Tales at Midnight
by kitsune21809
Summary: A collection of erotic/romantic short stories centered mainly on Ciel and Elizabeth, may include some Sebastian/Elizabeth.
1. The Edge of Propriety Pt 1

**I have decided to put together a mesh of Black Butler short stories that will contain both the manga and the anime. Most will center around Ciel and Elizabeth but there with be a few that stray to other characters. This particular story has been stuck in my mind for years now and I have been constantly looking for an excuse to write it and Black Butler is that perfect excuse. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Summary: Years have passed and Elizabeth has grown to be a beautiful young woman of sixteen. She is bubbly, carefree and innocent. And it is for this particular reason that her dear aunt Perdita has come to visit. Perdita believes that a woman should hold power over her man but in a way that is not intirely noticable. So, before her niece's wedding, she intends to take her on a journey to the most glamorous courtesans of Europe to learn their feminine wiles. As she travels with her Aunt from Italy to Egypt and Paris, from Persia to Rome and America, several lessons are learned and Elizabeth is tested beyond her wildest imagination.<p>

When the time comes for her to marry, Elizabeth is driven by her newfound powers to be the best wife she can for her beloved Ciel. Little does he know of the surprises she has in store for him.

* * *

><p>The Edge of Propriety<p>

Part 1

It was a particlarily chilly November morning when the sturdy horse drawn carriage pulled up to the Phantomhive manor. The driver stepped from his perch and deftly opened the carriage door; a finely gloved hand extended from the dark interior. Elizabeth Middleford emerged from the carriage, a solemn expression painted upon her normally joyuos features as she was led to the manor entrance where a darkly clad butler awaited.

"Welcome Miss Elizabeth, Master Ciel has been informed of your visit and will be with you shortly, he asks that you wait in the study for him. May I offer you some tea while you wait?" He asked as he led her down the great hall towards the study. Elizabeth smiled slightly and shook her head as she stepped into the room. "No thank you, Sebastian, I won't be here that long, as I have a previous engagement I need to attend."

Sebastian nodded and watched as she went to stand beside the window. "I will inform the master." He said as he left, the door clicking quietly behind him. Elizabeth sighed as she pressed her forehead to the cool glass. A slow drizzel began to fall outside and ominous clouds gathered overhead as if sensing her mood. She reflected over the reason for her visit and though she had cried out all her tears beforehand, she could not help the tight constriction of her chest as the feeling of sadness washed over her. In the corner of the study a grandfather clock chimed eight times and she began to fret because she knew she didn't have long. If Ciel didn't hurry she would have to seek him out. Then, he would be angry with her. Suddenly her fears were set at ease as the familiar click of the study door opened and Ciel stepped into the room. He stared at her expectantly as she turned away from the window to face him. "Elizabeth, how are you?" He shut the door behind him and walked towards her. "Sebastian told me you didn't have long?" Ciel pondered on her sad expression and grew worried when she smiled sadly at him. "Ah, yes... my Aunt Perdita came to visit us a few days ago. I am to be going away with her for a while." Ciel went to stand beside her and now, even without heels, seemed to loom over her like a giant. She smiled, for now she could wear the heels she so desperately craved in her youth. "Going away, for how long?" He asked as he grasped her elbow and led her to sit in a chair. He turned and seated himself opposite of her, resting his elbows on his knees and peering curiously at her. She frowned and turned away from him and her fingers began pulling absently at her bodice strings. Ciel's brows furrowed and he reached to pull her hands into his own. "How long, Lizzy?"

She smiled bitterly. "I don't know, but it will be before our designated marriage age. So maybe two or three years? She really didn't say." Ciel stared at her in shock. "Why? Where are you going?"

"Perdita says I am to travel around the world with her to study the 'womanly arts'. She says it's essiential for a girl if she's to be married. I suppose she wants to change me." Somehow, when she had thought she'd cried all she could, a tear slipped over her cheek and she felt the warm brush of Ciel's thumb as he wiped it away. "Lizzy, I..." There came a knock from the door and Ciel dropped her hands and leaned back into his seat. "Yes?"

Sebastian entered and placing a gloved hand over his chest, bowed his head slightly towards them. "The Countess Perdita Middleford awaits you in the foyer Miss Elizabeth." Then he left.

Elizabeth sighed as she stood and brushed the invisible dust from her skirts. Ciel stood as well and watched her. "Well, I'll be seeing you soon...Ciel." She smiled.

"Yes, see you soon, Lizzy." He said as he walked her to the door. For a moment she paused and faced him reluctantly. He stared at her worried because she looked as if she wished to say more but could not bring herself to do so. Then she stared at him, her green eyes boring into his own, tracing the contours of his face as if to preserve it to memory.

"Lizzy...?" He was cut short as she raised slowly on her tip toes, her hands braced on his shoulders and kissed him lightly. He stood frozen, unsure what to do, until she pulled away and whispered in his ear, "goodbye Ciel."

Then she turned and left.

He watched as her carriage pulled away from his manor and dissappeared over the horizon.

The shrill cry of the steamboat's whisle made her jump in her seat and her aunt turned to look at her. Perdita sighed and patted Elizabeth's hand. Such a frail girl, her niece was, but Perdita knew that she wasn't weak in any means. At sixteen her niece was a skilled swordswoman, strong and brave and loyal beyond belief to those she loved but the girl was dreadfully ignorant she found in the ways of womanhood. As had been pounded into her head since she was a child, she was petite and frail, cute and innocent, but in the ever changing world an ignorant girl would be diminished quickly as Perdita had found out the hard way.

But Perdita did not plan to change her niece into the hard amazon her mother was, nor the soft-spoken child she is now, no she planned to change her into a woman fit for her station.

"By the time I will have to leave you, my dear, you will be well equipped with the knowledge of almost every art and artifice that the female sex has had to learn and use to gain their ends from time immemorial. And you have so far managed to keep your mind detached enough to _use_ your weapons effectively." Perdita said as she ran nimble fingers through the girl's golden tresses.

Elizabeth gazed at her aunt. She was slim and frail but looks can be decieving because Elizabeth knew very well that her aunt was strong, cunning and witty. A true Femme Fatale. Only, Perdita was a very kind woman, sweet, like chocolate and cool like cream. Elizabeth thought her to be very queen like with her wavy red-brown hair that pulled back into an elegant braid and her peircing green eyes.

Elizabeth frowned and turned away.

"You will see in time my love, it is all for the best." Perdita chided.

"Am I your love?" Lizzy asked turning to her.

Perdita went to stand behind her and began braiding her hair. "I would dearly love you to be."

"My mother hates you." It was true, because her father held his dear sister in such high regard Elizabeth could say that her own mother was severly jelous and hateful towards her aunt.

Perdita finished her braiding and went to sit in front of Elizabeth. "Well that my dear... As women we control so little of our destiny. Men do."

"And?" Elizabeth retorted.

"The outcome is, we hate eachother. But we should not."

"Who should we hate then? Men?"

Perdita almost laughed but it came out more as a forlorn sigh. "No my love... it's in our nature to love them." Perdita lowered her eyes as if she were deep in thought and Elizabeth thought she looked very sad in that moment. "But we should protect ourselves against them... against our feelings towards them."

Elizabeth stared at her aunt confused. What did she mean?

"We will all of us one day be replaced." She said as she stood and walked over to the armoir. "Ciel would never replace me." Elizabeth argued even as her aunt approched with a soft satin night gown.

"Let us certainly hope so." Perdita slipped the gown over the girl's head and brushed away the wrinkles. Then she led her to bed. "What weapons do I have?" Lizzy asked as she lay back into the pillows.

Perdita paused to stare at her. "Your beauty."

Elizabeth smiled. "Is that a weapon?"

"It can be deadly, when well used." She sighed and sat on the edge of the mattress. "But beauty doesn't last forever. Gone, like the snows of last year."

"What else?"

"When beauty fades... your wit. Your intelligence." Perdita smiled and tucked a loose strand behind the girl's ear.

"And I have those weapons?"

"Oh in abundance. You should cultivate them." Perdita's smile fell. "You will be married some day, you may need them, sooner than you think."

Reaching for the kerosene lamp beside her bed, Perdita blew it out then kissed her niece's forehead. "Goodnight darling."

When she had gone, Elizabeth reached into her bedside drawer and pulled out a golden locket with a long gold chain. The locket itself had been a birthday present from Ciel many years prior, shaped in the form of a rose bud, but inside lay a more recent picture of him. He sad rigid, with no smile and his hair tousled around his eyes. His patch set in place hiding his right eye. He didn't look angry, just stern, tired, but even though he didn't smile in the portrait, she still found him attractive. She sweetly kissed the picture and closed the locket, placing it around her neck to lay agaist her heart.

And that's where it would stay for the next three years.

* * *

><p>Year 1, Month 2<p>

Elizabeth shivered and pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. The darkly painted walls felt like they were closing in around her and she felt most out of place, but even so, she put on a brave face for her aunt who stood to one side of her. They were in Italy, more specifically in an upper class Italian Brothel. An Italian courtesan and close friend of her Aunt's named Francesca walked on her other side.

The two older women talked aimlessly but now Francesca turned to Elizabeth and stepped beside a dark curtain. "But now this is what I really wanted to show you." Francesca paused so suddenly that Elizabeth almost bumped into her. "There is a curtain here which I will draw aside to reaveal another kind of stage. I tell you this before because you must know that neither you nor I can be observed from the other side of what appears to be a wall of mirrors. So, now you will see my private theater and enjoy the performance that is offered tonight, I hope. This is the room to which my young ladies bring the men _they_ choose. And they do so with the understanding that should I, or any personal guest of mine so choose...Ah!" Francesca's soft throaty laugh suggested infinite possiblilities before she said: "If you should like to join the two on the bed or take the woman's place, the choice is yours, of course! And I will even promise you privacy from all prying eyes, even my own!"

"Ah, but that will not be necessary, Francesca dear, my dear Elizabeth is merely here to observe and learn. "Oh, very well."

Francesca began to draw aside the curtain with short tugs on a velvet cord, revealing at last a stage set of mirrors lighted by crystal lamps that hung from gold chains in every corner of the enormous room. Dominating everything else was the only item of furniture in the particular chamber of Venus; a bed so large it could have easily accomodated three couples at one time on it's sheets of soft, oyster-colored velvet that almost seemed to glow.

A performance indeed! Without her realizing it, Elizabeth's fingers had suddenly tightened against eachother while her eyes dialated. Why, this was almost like looking through a shopwindow! But with a great difference, for these were no shopmaker's dummies swathed with lengths of material.

Both naked, they sat opposite eachother, the man's sunbrowned back to the mirror while the young woman faced it. She was quite lovely, with smooth ivory skin and long red-gold hair that fell in waves over her back. Leaning slightly forward her full, red lips parted and her hair covering just enough of her breasts to make her pose even more provacative as she deliberately invited the caress of the fingers that pushed aside strands of hair to find crimson peaks which seemed to quiver as the woman's breathing quickened. Her hands clutched fiercely at his shoulders as she whispered something and almost flung her body agaist her dark-haired partner, straddling him while her ivory pale legs wrapped themselves about his hips.

"She is always hungry and impatient, that Lucrezia!" Francesca whispered at Elizabeth's side as the man brought his hands up to the young woman's shoulders and pushed her backward while she continued to cling to him, her hips moving and now arching upward to answer thrust with counter thrust.

Elizabeth could feel her face becoming hot as her own breathing quickened and her heart pounded rapidly against her ribcage. The bed became an arena as the couple, like lusty young animals, playfully grappled with one another and changed positions, the man moving onto his side first and then onto his back with his hands as dark as mahogany against the pale flesh of his partner's hips as he controlled her wild, writhing movements. At the next instant, Lucrezia had suddenly flung had flung her head so far back that the veins had become ridges against the arc of her throat, her mouth open and contorted as if she were in the throes of acute agony. And it was between the tauntly held moment and the next, when the woman let her body collapse limply forward over his that Elizabeth knew for certainty what the purely intuitive part of her mind had guessed from the very beggining; holding her rooted in place by a sick kind of fascination that forced her to watch the whole obscene ritual of abandoned depravity.

* * *

><p>Year 1, month 6:<p>

"You must never loose your temper, but rather stay cool and collected. Aways make them think you are one step behind when really you are a step ahead. And be observant. Always keep your eyes open to the world around you Elizabeth, for knowlege is a key factor in a woman's life." Perdita instructed as she sat before her niece as she was fitted for her gown. This month, they were in Egypt, and the weather was much more stifling than her home of London.

"Do not crowd you husband, men more often than not are not overly affectionate, it is our jobs to please them, but not smother them. If he is bothered by something then ask why. If he doesn't tell you, or if he is too upset, then give him time to settle, perhaps he will tell you in time. But if he doesn't, then there are other means to finding out."

"So you mean I am to spy on him?" Elizabeth retorted as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"No, of course not, I mean inquire to the servants, watch his emotions. You must know him front to back, his habits, his hobbies, his likes and dislikes. Always remember this my dear, behind every great man, stands an even greater woman pulling the strings and you must be that woman. And dear Ciel is indeed a great man."

"But I don't want to control him!" Elizabeth cried flinging her arm to the side.

"Then don't think of it as control, think of it as guiding him." Perdita chided.

Elizabeth sighed, she wasn't going to win this fight.

"Now, you look beautiful."

Elizabeth turned to stare at herself in the mirror and gasped.

She wore a translucent skirt and a satine cloth wrapped around her upper waist. Her middrift lay bare save for the inticate black lines that were painted over her skin. Gold bangles adorned her arms in the shapes of snakes and beatles. Her hair lay loose around her shoulders and tumbled over her back. Only a loose translucent cloth covered her breast which had grown fuller in the past months. She appeared as an egyptian goddess standing high on a pedistal before her subjects.

"I have brought you to Egypt so that you may learn the ways of dance. Women in Egypt use dancing to entrance their men. Like witches, they cast spells with their bodies, pulling them in to make them subdue to their every will. May I introduce you to Nafratiri, she will be your instructor.

Like the woman's name implied, she was a 'Beautiful Creation'. With long black hair that flowed like water over her shoulders only stopping just below her hips. In her arms, lay a lith, darkly colored snake. She hummed an enchanting tune to the creature as she rubbed her cheek over it's head. It hissed as if in pleasure, a sound that calmed the woman's nerves until she was in a trance like state. She smiled at Elizabeth who shied away at the creature. Though she did not scream, such things were silly her mother had told her.

"Her skin is like water." Nafratiri whispered, her acent rolling over her tounge as if she herself were a serpant. "Her toung is fire." She smiled and grasped Elizabeth's hand to place against the velvety skin of the serpant. "She is your friend."

When she felt Elizabeth calm she smiled and extended her arms. "Take it."

Elizabeth stared at her hesitantly. "If you hesitate, she will strike."

Elizabeth allowed the woman to wrap the creature around her forearm and stared in awe at the magnificient creature.

"They are like people. You can love them for years, feed them, nurture them, but still, they can turn on you." Elizabeth glanced at her then ran soft hands over the snake's skin. "She's beautiful." Elizabeth breathed.

"She is your true teacher." Nafratiri said. Elizabeth turned to her confused.

"It is from the snake, we learn our dance. They move like water, but strike like lightening. Here, let me show you." Nafratiri took the snake from her and placed it in a woven basket, she then turned and picking up and instrument Elizabeth didn't recognize, began to play a slow tune. Slowly, the snake rose from the basket and weaved through the air, as if following the music. Dancing.

After a while, Nafratiri stopped and signaled to some men in the cornor to begin playing their own music. Nafratiri stood in front of her and grasped her wrists. "Raise your arms and let your body flow with the music. Feel it inside, as it caresses your body."

Elizabeth watched as Nafratiri closed her eyes and moved her hips slowly, rythmically to the beat of the drums and tamborines. As the beat picked up so did her dancing, she gyrated her hips in a circle, her flat stomache waving like water. The bangles on her wrists and ankles clashed together creating their own music.

As she opened her eyes she saw that Elizabeth wasn't dancing. "Come, I'll help you. Close your eyes." So, Elizabeth did. She felt Nafratiri's hands wrap around her belly as she pressed her body against her back. They began to move, swaying, jerking, thrusting, moving with the music. Elizabeth's heart pounded and she felt almost euphoric as the music and smell of incense enveloped her senses.

Nafratiri grasped her wrists and held them above her head, moving them in and erotic pattern as her own hands ran over the taunt muscles of Elizabeth's stomache. Elizabeth opened her eyes. Her aunt had left. But, as her senses were overloaded she felt she didn't care. Nafratiri turned her around to face her and they rubbed agaist eachother scandalously. She felt as Nafratiri's hands rubbed across her back then up over her shoulder blades, then, ever so gently brushed over the sheer fabric of her blouse. Her thumbs pressed agaisnt the taunt nipples, then caressed the sides of her breasts, tickling her. Elizabeth gasped and flung her head back. What was this feeling? She had never felt this warmth before. Smoke wafted through the air around them as Nafratiri led Elizabeth back into a curtained area and pushed her back into a bed of soft cushions. She felt her own hands caress over the egyptian woman's dark skin and in her smoke filled haze, didn't fight when the woman kissed her. In fact, she kissed her back revealing in the feeling.

Nafratiri's hands slipped lower until one disappeared beneath Elizabeth's skirt and it wasn't long until a startled gasp and then a low moan errupted from the girl's lips. Nafratiri pushed the fabric aside as she fondled her then brought her lips to her breasts. Suckling, nipping, pushing Elizabeth over the edge as her fingers pulsed inside her.

She arched her back and slowly felt a liquid heat coiling like a tight spring in her loins until she though she might burst. Then, Nafratiri pulled away and Elizabeth almost cried at the loss, but it was short lived as the heat was reaplace as the egyptian woman straddled her allowing their heat to merge into a single burning flame. Nafratiri gasped as she thrust against the girl, reveling in her pleasured moans of ecstacy.

"Ooohh, please, faster." Elizabeth breathed as she grasped Nafratiri's hands that massaged her breasts. She began to match her thrusts, and her moans turned into broken screams as she neared her breaking point, then suddenly, she shut her eyes tight and it seemed that stars had errupted behind her eyes. Her eyes shot open, dialated then closed again as she opened her mouth in a silent scream. Nafratiri collapsed beside he, and they lay together, shaking and breathing heavily. It wasn't until she had come down from her high, that Elizabeth realized with horror, exactly what she had done.


	2. The Edge of Propriety Pt 2

**Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments, they really inspired me to get this chapter out there quicker. Only one more after this one. Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to comment of what you think! I love the reviews!**

* * *

><p>The Edge of Propriety<p>

Pt. 2

Perdita sat still, sipping her tea quietly as she listened to her niece rampage as she stalked infront of her. Every now and then, she would throw up her hands and scream loudly prompting an Egyptian servant to pop their head inside their tent to which Perdita would wave them away before Elizabeth noticed them.

"Calm yourself child, your scaring the locals." Perdita chided as she once again took a sip from her tea. Elizabeth's face flooded with color. "Calm? You want me to be calm? How the _hell_ am I supposed to be calm!" She screamed as she smacked Perdita's tea out of her hands. It shattered as it hit the ground splattering tea everywhere. Perdita's eyes narrowed and she sighed irratably. "That was my favorite teacup."

Elizabeth screamed as she pulled at her hair. "After what you did all your worried about is your teacup! You should be glad I haven't strangled you yet!"

"Of all the disgusting, sick, perverted... I've never in my life been so humiliated! How could you do this to me, _knowing_ I was engaged to Ciel, you puposely set me up so that that...that...Egyptian whore could rape me! Do you know what this means? I can never marry Ciel now, not with this on my concience! You sick, twisted woman! I know you hired her, she was no dance instructor, she was a common street whore!"

"Now wait a minute! Nefatiri is no street whore, she was once the king's personal courtesan and could teach you many things and has taught you! And you have not been defiled you silly girl, you are still intact as a virgin is required! But now you have experience, _now you have knowledge_!" Perdita smiled.

Elizabeth stared at her as if she were crazy. "Are you insane? Now I can see why my mother hates you, your disgusting, vile, pathetic excuse for a woman! I should have never listened to you! I'm writing my father right now and..."

"And tell him what exactly? Tell him you've been parading from whore house to whore house, learning ways to please your future husband, to become a powerful woman who can control and _keep_ her husband? Just what do you think he believes your doing with me on this little journey?" Perdita spat.

"You lied to them? So now what? No matter where I turn, I will be considered a whore! My future is lost!" Elizabeth collapsed on the ground and hugged her knees as she cried.

"I hate you."

Perdita stared at her niece sadly then reached out to pat her shoulder. "Oh, darling, it was the only way. You wouldn't have learned otherwise. But as long as you don't tell, no one will know. Your future is still intact. Can't you see that?"

Elizabeth sniffed as she raised her head and stared at her aunt with watery eyes. "Now you know what pleasure is, without it, I couldn't teach you anything. You would be ignorant. Now you must learn how to please a man. But this you yourself will not do, you will learn this by watching others."

Elizabeth buried her head in her knees.

"Shame is just another step in life that can move us forward or keep us back. It's up to you which way you want to go."

Hearing these words, Elizabeth raised determined eyes. She would get through this, she would learn these ways and when it was all over, she _would_ be Ciel's wife.

* * *

><p>Year 2, Month 1<p>

It was late when they arrived in Paris by boat, but Elizabeth was not concerned with that. She stood at the railing, leaning over with her head tilted up towards the stars. They were beautiful and she couldn't help but wonder if Ciel was watching those same stars. It was doubtful but she could hope couldn't she, her aunt couldn't take that from her.

She hadn't forgiven Perdita for Egypt, and doubted she ever would. But one can't accoplish anything by living in the past. Ciel had taught her that. So, Elizabeth put the memory in the file, but as her aunt instructed, she would not put away the memory of the way she felt. So, that was the feeling of lust? Of passion?

She heard the sound of heels clacking behind her but she paid them no heed. "We will be docking soon."

When Elizabeth said nothing, Perdita sighed and ran a hand through her bangs. "They say Paris is the city of love. And it's true... to an extent. You will learn a great deal here." Perdita chanced to place a hand on the girl's shoulder but Elizabeth brushed it away.

"You can't stay mad at me forever." She said.

Elizabeth turned to her, green eyes hard as diamonds. "Well, I don't have to be happy with you either." Then she turned and walked below deck.

Elizabeth stepped into their cabin and shut and locked the door behind her. Right now, she wanted to be alone, she wanted peace. She went to her writing table and opened the top drawer to aquire some parchment and a quill. For several moments, she just sat there contemplating what to write. After a few tense seconds, she put pen to paper and formed an elegant script.

_My dearest Ciel,_

She frowned as Perdita's words invaded her mind.

_Do not crowd your husband, men more often than not are not overly affectionate, it is our jobs to please them, but not smother them. _

She crumbled the parchment and began again.

_Dear Ciel,_

But that didn't sound right either. It sounded so plain and traditional. Crumble. Toss.

_Ciel,_

_We are bound for Paris, and I am to be escorted by the famed cortesan, Madame Dubois and her daughter, Marie to learn the ways of pleasing a man. _

Elizabeth scoffed and in her frustration, ripped the paper until it was little more than confetti. She wanted to tell him the truth, she did, but not like this. No, she wanted to see his face when he found out the shame she put herself through to please him. So, she began again.

_Ciel,_

_We are bound for Paris, the city of love! Isn't it romantic? I am to be tutored by a French aristocrat's wife by the name of Madame Dubois. I'm not entirely sure as to what I will be learning from her as yet, but I recall Aunt Perdita telling me it has something to do with entertainment._

There, that wasn't a complete lie.

_I do miss you though, however, I can't imagine you to be missing me all that much. I laugh at the though of your relief at the prospect that I won't be bursting in to redecorate your home everytime you leave or constantly pleading with you to throw such childish balls. But you must know that they were only my most sincere attempts to make you smile as you don't do it so often. _

_You should though, or else you'll get wrinkles and turn very ugly and then I won't marry you._

She smiled and her pen paused as she heard her aunt knocking. "Elizabeth, we have docked, it's time to go." Elizabeth sighed.

_But, alas, I hear Aunt Perdita calling and I must bid you adieu. That's french! You see, I learn quickly, so I should be home to you soon!_

_Love,_

_Lizzy_

She smiled satisfied and folded the parchment and, placing it in an envelope, hid it away in her sleeve.

She found a friend in Marie Dubois. She was a little thing, with white ringlets of hair and soft rosie lips. Marie had taught her to French kiss as well as bewitch men into doing her bidding with a few sweet words and batting of the eyelashes.

One of her most embarassing moments however, was when Marie showed her the _French_ way a pleasing a man, and though it seemed digusting, it also intrigued Elizabeth in seeing the man's reaction when Marie put her mouth on that certain spot.

She had been in France for little over a month now when Ciel's reply came. She took it from her Aunt eagerly and rushed up to their room, locking the door behind her. From her desk, she retrieved a golden letter opener and slit the top of the note, anxiously pulling the parchment from inside ready to devour it's contents with her eyes.

_Lizzy,_

_I'm glad to hear your doing well on your trip. You had me worried when I had no new from you during the first few months but this letter relieves me greatly. I am curious however as to what type of entertainment you are learning from this Madame Dubois, as she __**is **__French. _

Elizabeth's hands trembled, could he know?

_I certainly hope she is not teaching you one of their silly dances or how to sing opera. You know I dislike it._

She sighed, so it seemed he did not.

_And it's not true Lizzy, I do miss you. My home has never been so plain and colorless. And I smile plenty, though as I late, I don't have all that much reason to smile, and who are you to call me ugly? You should be lucky I don't refuse to marry __**you**__ with your strange obsession with cute things. _

_I am very happy to hear that you are learning so fast and wait anxiously for your return. _

_Sincerely yours, _

_Ciel_

She frowned. She had put love.

* * *

><p>Year 2, Month 5<p>

Greece had granted her a few tantalizing dresses and tricks that could leave a man begging for more.

* * *

><p>Year 2, Month 8<p>

Russia taught her dicipline; she learned to cool her temper in even the hottest of situations. Her tutor, Mr. Nikolay, spelled in the Russian alphabet as Николай, taught her how to wield a gun fairly well, although she still favored her sword. He also introduced her to her first taste of alchohol on the day she celebrated her eighteenth birthday. However, the morning after she also experienced her first hangover, although Mr. Nikolay remarked to her later that he had never seen a woman who could outdrink even him, without batting an eye.

_Darling Ciel,_

This time, she didn't care how she addressed him, she was too happy.

_I cannot thank you enough for this gift you have given me. Truly, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I will cherish it always. _

Elizabeth smiled at the new engagement ring that adorned her finger. It's stone was sapphire, and the silver band held a mirage of tiny little diamonds that glittered in the light. Engraved inside were the words: To My Dear Elizabeth, Happy Birthday.

_I am sending you a gift as well, it is called a __Fabergé egg and they are all the rage in Russia. It's beautiful is it not? Open it, there's a surprise for you. I know you'll like it._

_Love,_

_Elizabeth_

Ciel smiled as he read the letter and turned to the beautiful jewel encrusted egg that sat on his desk. It glimmered with an assortment of rubies and diamonds, sapphires and emeralds, all meshed together in a net of silver and gold. A golden band wrapped around the middle and a little clasp lay to one side. He pressed it and the egg popped open. Inside lay a bottle with a clear liquid. He opened it and sniffed it but smelled nothing.

"What is it my lord?" Sebastian asked as he peered at the strange concoction.

Ciel stared at it a bit longer. "I'm not sure." He then turned back to Elizabeth's note. At the bottom was a small scribble.

_It's called Vodka, a popular alcholic beverage served here, though very strong so don't drink it all at once. I'm sure Sebastian will love it too._

_Cheers!_

He smiled and turned to the afformentioned butler. "Sebastian, fetch us some glasses. Tonight, we toast to Lizzy."

* * *

><p>Year 2, Month 12<p>

Spain was her favorite, for there she could spend hours laying in the sun and bathing in it's warmth. She enjoyed the flowing dresses of such beautiful colors and how they would twirl as the women danced a romantic Flamenco. Gitana these women were called. Gypsies. They taught her many things of which were cooking, dancing, singing, defense and above all, lovemaking.

Her main teacher was her true good friend, Carmen. A spanish angel or devil, she couldn't tell. But she did know that the woman was gifted when it came to getting what she wanted. Carmen, taught her seduction.

_Ciel,_

_Oh I love it here in Spain! If I weren't so anxious to come home, I'd say I'd never leave! It's so warm here and the people are so kind and inviting. The food is exquisite! I have made a friend! Her name is Carmen and she is so...so...well, how can one describe her. She is sweet and kind and at the same time wild and firey. She is like a tigress with a thirst for adventure and a mother with a heart of gold. Although she has no children, she is so loving to the orphans of the town where we reside. I think you would like her. Especially Sebastian, oh! I wonder if I might set them up?_

_Oh, but we shall talk of such devious things when I return, I have found the most beautiful dresses here and I can't wait to show you, so much so that I have sent a picture of one of my dance lessons inside, I hope you like it. I love the Flamenco, it's such a spirited dance that it set's my heart to pumping and I feel I might burst with energy. _

_Ciel, I miss you so much. It's so strange to be half a world away from you. Our villa is situated by the sea and every evening I look at the sunset and try to drawn the last of the heat from this long day and send it from my heart, to yours._

Ciel sighed as he lay down the crumpled letter on his desk. He'd re-read it over and over and the words seemed to stick in his head like cobwebs. He'd laughed out loud when he read the prospect of her setting Sebastian up with someone and the mentioned butler snapped his head to the side startled at the sudden outburst.

Ciel could just picture Elizabeth sitting on a crest of rock by the ocean, basking in the light of the fading sun. The ocean spray crashing against the rocks and spraying a light mist of sea water over her legs. Then she would smile and kiss the parchment before folding and putting it away.

These thoughts of her would often startle him, for before he wouldn't allow himself to think such things, but times had changed and he was seventeen now. He was no longer the little boy that he had been when she'd left. His hand reached for the photo she had sent and he propped his chin in his palm as he stared at it. A slow grin spread across his face and his heart began to warm.

She was half turned in the portrait, her ruffled dress held up slightly above her left knee as it extended outwards in an extravagant pose while her arm reached above her in the classical _ole_ posture. But it wasn't the provacative feature of her dress or the fashion of her pose that caught his attention, but rather her smile. She looked so truly happy and beautiful that it sent his heart to pounding everytime he glimpsed it.

She had grown into a beautiful young woman. He couldn't wait for her return so that he might see that smile in person.

* * *

><p>Year 3, Month 4<p>

Japanese geisha taught her grace and poise. Balance and serenity. Kindess and power. Luckily, they practiced swordsmanship here as well. Not to mention powerful massages.

She sent Ciel the gift of a katana engraved with his name in kanji and a bottle of fine sake for his birthday. In return, he signed his thank you letter with love, Ciel.

* * *

><p>Year 3, Month 9<p>

England, she was home, her journey had come to an end. Tomorrow she would celebrate her nineteenth birthday and plans would be made for her marriage to Ciel. She turned and glanced herself in a mirror.

She had changed so much in the past three years, she was now a woman of means. Self-confidant and assured. Intelligent and strong. She was everything her Aunt had set out to make her. There were a few times when she felt lost and hopeless but then she would stare at Ciel's picture and hope was renewed. But just as the years had changed her, so had they Ciel. She couldn't wait to see him. She brushed the taffeta layers of her skirt and held her head high as she stepped off the boat and into the carriage that would take her home.

* * *

><p>Ciel sighed as he pushed aside some documents that needed tending. He couldn't think straight right now. His thoughts were primarily focused on Elizabeth. Tomarrow was her birthday, and that meant marriage soon after. But he didn't want to marry now, he already had so much going on in his life now, he didn't exactly need a woman like Elizabeth clinging to him every second of the day, with her overly bubbly attitude chocking him. It wasn't that he disliked her, quite the opposite, in fact. They had grown up together.<p>

He thought to himself suddenly, recalling a vacent memory long since past.

_Every one loved Elizabeth. The passionate and almost reverential attachment with which all regarded her became, while I shared it, my pride and my delight. On the evening previous to her being brought to my home, my mother had said playfully-"I have a pretty present for my Ciel-tomorrow he shall have it." And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally, and looked upon Elizabeth as mine-mine to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her, I received as made to a possession of my own. We called each other familiarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me-my more than cousin, since till death she was to be mine only._(1)

But he hadn't recieved a letter from her in a while, last he heard she was in Japan. The letter had left him curious. What could she learn in Japan? From her letters, it seemed she had been all over the globe in her travels, but why, just how many feminine traits were there to learn? The thought left him shuddering in fear of what the new Elizabeth would be like.

Would she be like her mother? Or ten times worse than she was before? The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

"Master?"

Ciel jumped. Sebastian stood before him, a tray of sweets and tea in his hand. "Are you ill?" He asked.

Ciel shook his head. "No, just pondering some foreboding thoughts."

"Ah, your thinking of Miss Elizabeth."

Ciel's head rose. "How did you..." Sebastian gestured to the pile of past letters scattered over his desk. "Oh."

"You needn't fret Master, I'm sure Miss Elizabeth will be just fine. She might even surprise you." He said.

* * *

><p>(1)<p>

This paragraph originally came from the famous novel _Frankenstein_, because when I first started reading Black Butler, I became grossly aware that Ciel and Elizabeth's story were very similar to Victor and Elizabeth's. So I went over the book again to try and find ideas to improve my writing and found this particular paragraph that seemed to be talking about Ciel and his feelings towards Elizabeth. The only thing I changed in the paragraph was the name from Victor to Ciel.

What's even more funny is Victor is Ciel's father's name. Ironic no?


	3. The Edge of Propriety Pt 3 Finale

And here you have it, the final, well I say will be plenty more little snippets in the future of different things centered on this particular story but for now this is the final chapter of The Edge of Propriety. As well as other separate short stories. However no Yaoi, I dispise Yaoi.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>The Edge of Propriety<strong>

**Pt 3**

Elizabeth smiled as Maylene closed Ciel's office door and left her alone while she herself fetched snack's and tea. Then, Elizabeth glanced around the room, staring at the subtle changes her fiance had made in her absence. The carpet seemed, darker and the windows curtains were closed keeping the light of day firmly shut out. She frowned and strode to the window, slinging the heavy curtains wide. Sighing, she stepped back and glanced around.

'There, much better,' she thought to herself.

Now that the overwhelming darkness had been chased away Elizabeth realized that the office hadn't really changed at all. There was still the dark, cherrywood desk that sat before the window, and the full bookshelves standing at it's sides didn't seem as tall as she remembered. The carpet remained plush and she bent down, removing her gloves so that she could run nimble fingers through it. She stood again and walked behind the desk where Ciel's large, leather chair sat. She sat down and leaned back reveling in the smell of his cologne that lingered in the air.

She missed him.

Closing her eyes she sighed and crossed her legs beneath the flowing cloth of her english gown. She frowned when she found the movement difficult. After being dressed in so many different styles of so many different places, Elizabeth found she hated the way proper English women dressed. She found it restricting and suffocating and longed for something simple like a japanese kimono or a hindu sari that covered less skin and allowed free movement.

But such clothing would be considered barbaric here in England. She stared at the contents of his office and smiled as she saw the _Fabergé egg _she had sent him from Russia at the corner of his fireplace. Above it, sitting on a mantle was his Katana she had sent him for his birthday in Japan. But what made her heart beat faster was the photo she had sent him in Spain, sitting in a beautiful frame on the corner of his desk. She picked it up and smiled. So he did care?

Suddenly, she jumped as she heard a commotion from downstairs and the sound of running feet in the hallway a few moments later. The door to the office swung open and suddenly, after three years, there he was. He was shocked and his hair was tousled.

"Elizabeth?"

She smiled and put the portrait back as she stood to greet him.

"Hello Ciel."

Ciel didn't know what to think when he'd burst into his office to find his fiance sitting in his chair like some everyday aquaintance. She had grown so much. Her face was long, thin, and beautiful. Her green eyes sparkled with mischeif while her hair, which used to hang in matching pigtails, now lay tucked neatly in a simple, white, beaded snood at the base of her neck.

As she stepped out from behind his desk he found that her usual style of pink and frills had been replaced with a subtle ivory and light blue. Gone was the cute obsessed little girl that had once been his fiance and now, there was this new, mature, beautiful woman standing before him.

She hid a laugh behind her hand as she approached him.

"Are you going to stand there gaping at me all day or are you going to say something?" She asked as she stood before him. Still, however the words did not come and Elizabeth smiled knowingly. The breath he'd been holding escaped in a gush as she hugged him.

"I missed you too, Ciel."

Ciel, smiled and hugged her back.

Ciel! Elizabeth couldn't breath. How handsome he was. His face, lean and chiseled, like his father's and his dark hair fell helplessly into his eye and over his patch. He'd been in the sun somewhere, as he was darker than she remembered. Oh, God, how she loved him, her heart was beating so loud that she knew he must have heard it.

She pulled away from him, reminding herself of her aunt's words not to crowd him. She kept him at arms distance as she observed him then found herself looking up rather than eye level with him. "My goodness, Ciel. You've grown so tall! Not to mention handsome, but then you've always been that way haven't you?" Her voice dropped low into a purr and she watched him through heavy lashes for his reaction. As she had suspected, he blushed profusely and began to stutter slightly. She shushed him with a delicate finger on his lips.

"Ciel, it's not attractive to stutter." She said smiling. His grip tightened on her waist where they had fallen when she pulled away.

There was a knock on the door and his hands dropped away. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Sebastian stood in the doorway with Maylene who held a tray of snacks and tea in her arms.

"Lady Elizabeth, you've returned I see. How was your travels?" He asked politely.

"Sebastian! They were wonderful, I have many stories to tell." She said taking a tart from the tray as Maylene set it on the desk.

Sebastian smiled. "Then would it be to forward of me to ask if you will be staying for dinner?"

Elizabeth turned an innocent gaze towards Ciel. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

Ciel had to brace himself to keep his jaw from hitting the ground. Who was this woman? The Elizabeth he remebered didn't care if she intruded in his house or not. He realized she was waiting for his reply and shook the strange feeling off. "I would love it if you stayed."

She smiled. "Then it's settled."

She swept passed him and stood before the dark butler. "My dear Sebastian, you haven't changed at all! You must tell me your secret. Such agelessness isn't human." She said casually but her eyes held a darkness that she hid well.

"Madame, I am merely one _hell_ of a butler." He replied casually.

"Indeed." She said sweetly as she swept out of the room.

* * *

><p>That night, Elizabeth regaled them with stories of her travels. From Egypt to Rome, then Paris to Spain, she wove them tales of fancy and splendor as a good lady does.<p>

The servants stood to the side listening with rapture and even Sabastian, who's normally cool smile had been replaced with a look of mild curiosity. Ciel seemed astounded by all that she had seen. They didn't sit at the long table in the dining room which was reserved for guests but rather, at a smaller table in a seperate dining room where Ciel normally ate his meals in private.

"You say you traveled to Egypt, tell me, are the people there as barbaric as I hear?" Ciel asked as he sipped his wine. Elizabeth grinned a cheshire grin as she deftly slipped a foot from her slipper.

"Oh, I wouldn't call them barbaric. There ways are more, exotic." She purred as she ran a slender toe under the table and up his trouser leg. She leaned her chin in her hand and watched as he stiffened and dropped his fork. It clattered on his plate and Sebastian turned to him curiously.

"Are you alright master?" He asked.

Elizabeth winked and Ciel knodded stiffly.

"Tell me more." He managed to choke out.

She sighed.

"I met a woman by the name of Nafratiri in my travels. She was my tutor. She was also veeerry talented."

Her leg climbed higher until her toes rested on his knee, tapping slowly and to her amusement he clinched his teeth and swallowed thickly. She had to keep herself from laughing.

"She was what some might call a snake charmer. Sort of like your friend, but her ways are a little more, entrancing." She allowed her leg to slip past his knee and ran along the inside of his thigh but not to far, after all the game was just begining. She ran her toes back in forth for a moment watching as he squirmed.

"She would play this instrument and the snake to my utter facination, would begin to dance along with the music. Slow and smooth, weaving in and out like water in the Nile." She purred.

She could see a bead of sweat roll over his temple and trace his jawline, but training had taught her to keep cool and fend off her cravings. She remained calm.

"Nafratiri was also my dance intructor you know, and she taught me... many things."

She let her foot climb and nestled it on the inside of his thigh once more but this time she went further, allowing her foot to settle on that oh so sensitive spot. He gasped then covered his face with a napkin as Sebastian frowned at him. She almost couldn't hold back a chuckle at his face which stared at her astonished. She grinned at him and moved her foot in slow circles as she felt him harden beneath the tense cloth. Then, when she though he might burst from trying to hold himself calm she removed her foot and slipped it back into her shoe.

"But, I grow tired and that story must remain for another day. Please excuse me gentlemen, Maylene?" Elizabeth turned to the silent maid who jumped in surprise at being called. "Yes, my lady?"

"Would you kindly help me, I'm afraid I've forgotten how to undo these silly corsettes, after all, I haven't worn them much in over two years." She smiled as she caught Ciel's shocked face out of the corner of her eye. She turned back to them.  
>"Goodnight, gentlemen."<p>

Then, she was gone, Maylene following behind her.

Ciel, realizing what she had done, slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Damnit!" He cursed. Sebastian turned to Bard and Finny who jumped at his outburst. "Leave us." He said to them and it wasn't until they had scurried out that he turned to Ciel who was breathing heavily.

"It would appear Lady Elizabeth has change drastically in her travels." He said handing Ciel a clean cloth to wipe his brow.

Ciel let out a gush of air he'd been holding.

"You have no idea."

* * *

><p>She had been home for little less than a month but her visits came regularily but not too often as to annoy him. She visited his manor every Monday, Thursday and Saturday of the week, most of which she would stay for dinner then when it became clear that it was too late to send her home, she would stay the night. She spent these days talking with the staff or telling Ciel of her travels who had become wary of staying alone with her. However, there were moments when she would catch him alone.<p>

She had a way of doing subtle things that would drive him crazy. Saying something a certain way, walking a certain way, moving a certain way, brushing against him, standing too close to him. Smiling up at him with that secretive smile she always seemed to wear. He felt it was driving him off the edge.

One particular night she was staying with him, he walked down the coridor towards his room when he spied her bathroom door ajar. Hearing a noise, he peeked inside and there she was.

Her naked silhouette stood behind a tan screen, lit by a lone candle. He leaned against the door frame and jumped as it creaked. She paused and turned her head to the side, then slowly brought her arms up to her hair. She pulled it from it's bun and it fell in waves around her shoulders. Reaching down, she pulled up a slender leg and began removing her stockings. He stepped out of site as she emerged from behind the screen, in all her glory. He shuddered.

She hid a smile and stretched her arms above her head, pert nipples pointed proudly in the air above, soft tan flesh. As she brought her arms back down, she ran them over her shoulders and chest, then sighed as she stepped into the water.

She sat half turned towards the door and taking the sponge, lathered herself with soap. She dipped the sponge in the water and washed along her arms and legs, all the while humming a soft tune to her self. Slow, and sensual.

Ciel felt his grip tighten on the door frame as she stood and grabbing a bucket from the side of the tub, poured it's contents over her head. She sighed as the warm water washed away the soap from her body and left her dripping. Standing there like that he thought her to be a siren. Beautiful and mysterious goddess of the sea. She stepped from the tub and wrapped a towel around herself and dissappeared from sight behind her bedroom door. But just as he stepped back to leave and hand pushed him inside the room from behind. He turned ready to curse whoever was bold enough but the words died in his throat.

"Elizabeth." He choked.

She smiled coyly, gripping the towel at her chest. She shut the door behind her and locked it.

"Did you enjoy the show?" She asked him as she approached.

"I don't know what your..." He began but she silenced him with a finger.

"Ciel if we are to be married then we must make a pact with one another, hmm?" She was slowly backing him up until his back hit the wall.

"A pact?" He asked.

"Yes." She purred sweetly and she ran smooth hands over his neck and into his hair as she pressed against him. He placed his hands on her waist and she reached up kissing him softly, scarcely on the lips. Barely a brush of skin and he craved more but she pulled away.

"No more secrets." She whispered as she swept off his eye patch.

He stared at her shocked and attempted to cover his eye but she kissed him hard, prompting him to drop his arm to snake around her waist. The eye patch fell to the floor unnoticed as Elizabeth raised on slim toes and slid silken arms around his neck. Their lips blended with an impatient urgency, and, locked in eachother's embrace they were caught up in a fierce tide of passion.

But she suddenly pulled away, and stared at him as he opened his eyes to look at her. One blue, the other, stained with a mark of something she could no longer deny. He was breathing heavily from their kiss and she smiled sadly as she kissed his cheek. Her hand reached up to run over right eyebrow, then around the edge of his eye. He didn't flinch, only stared at her waiting with baited breath to see what she would do.

"I thought so." She whispered sadly.

"How did you know?" He asked her as he recovered his breath.

"I met a wise woman in my travels, a shamen. She told me of demons who grant wishes, but in return... they steal the soul. She told me of a mark, a seal."

She ran a hand over his eye and through his hair. "It wasn't hard to figure out."

"Elizabeth..."

"When you disappeared, something happened to you, something so awful that you summond one didn't you? You sold your soul. And the person you came back with, Sebastian, he's you demon, isn't he?"

He sighed and turned away from her. She suddenly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight to his own great surprise. He thought she would turn away angry or disgusted but no.

"I don't care. I'll love you anyways, just as I've always had." She whispered.

He sighed and laid his chin atop her head.

He loved her too, he just couldn't bring himself to say it.

Later, after Ciel had gone to bed, Elizabeth wandered the coridors seeking her prey. She found him in the game room, closing the windows where the room had been airing out during the day.

"Sebastian, may I have a word?" She said politely.

He turned to her surprised then smiled. "Yes, my lady?"

Smiling, she approached him slowly, running her hands along the edge of the pool table. "You know, I've never had a problem with you Sebastian, I've always held the utmost respect for you actually the way you would always protect Ciel."

He stared at her confused for a moment until she stopped before him, her green gaze hard and cold. "But I see now, that it was all for your own personal gain wasn't it?"

He stayed silent.

"I kow what you are, I know why your here, and I'm telling you now, I won't let you take him from me." Her voice was deadly calm as she glared up at him without a etch of fear in her body. "If I have to fight to my last breath, you will not take him from me."

He smiled wickedly. "You sound so sure of yourself, my lady. Tell me, how are you going to stop me."

Her hand shot from behind her skirts like lightening and suddenly a small, silver blade with a jade dragon handle was pressed to his throat. He hissed as the metal touching his skin burned into the flesh allowing a thin smoke to slowly rise from the wound.

"I'll cut you from him if I must."

His eyes narrowed.

"Where did you get that?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Ah, so you know it, hmm? I've learned many things in my travels Sebastian and have aquired a good many objects. You'd be wise to remember that."

She removed the bade and his hand immediately shot up to cover the wound.

Stepping back, she resheathed the blade and stood staring up at him. "Whatever Ciel asked of you when he summoned you, forget it. Let it be. Or, I will remove you from this world and the next."

She turned to leave but his voice stopped her.

"I admire you Lady Elizabeth, you show no fear even though you know what I am capable of. Yet you threaten me so openly. Your very brave or very foolish. Perhaps we could be friends."

She half turned to face him. "I love Ciel more, than I fear you."

She turned and left him standing in the moonlight to nurse his wound and his pride.

* * *

><p>Their wedding day had come upon them so fast that Elizabeth couldn't hardly believe it. She found herself walking down an isle littered with white roses with even more falling around her. She glanced around at the countless people who had come, faces of which she recognized throughout her childhood. Some, new, some old. All friends.<p>

Her mother sat with her father at the front and for the first time in her life, Elizabeth saw tears slide down her face. She saw Undertaker in the corner, smiling at her sweetly. She saw the Indian prince Soma and his friend Agni dressed in fine white Indian silk.

Ciel stood waiting for her at the alter and extended his hand when she began her own ascent. She stood facing him and smiled and slowly, cautiously, he smiled in return a true, genuine smile. She felt the tears gather at the corner of her eyes and soon they spilled over.

"Don't cry, silly. This is a happy day." He said. She laughed and knodded. The tip of her nose dipped as her smile washed over him. It riveted his attention, touched his heart.

Their vows were said and 'I do's' were exchanged.

Finally, Ciel lifted her viel and brushed his thumb across her cheek. "I love you, Elizabeth." She smiled and standing on tip toes, kissed him.

Cheers errupted in the church and hats and confetti were propelled into the air.

At the church doors entrance, Sebastian frowned.

When she pulled away, he held out his hand and together, they walked side by side down the isle, as man, and wife.

* * *

><p>That night, she stood before him, the sheer fabric of her muslim gown translucent in the candle light. She smiled seductively and reached up to slowly untie the ribbod of her collar. The fabric fell loose around her shoulders, revealing the smooth, ivory collumn of her neck. An intensity of longing streamed in his blood, fired his bones, flooded him with awareness. He desired her as if he had never known desire. Light flickered over her fine skin, flamed in a tiny halo at her temples and along the curve of her eyebrows. She smiled, inviting him to her.<p>

In two strides, he caught her around the waist. Longing beat at him, simply to immerse himself in her warmth. His hands slid down past her waist, capturing her bottom and pulling her against him. Wild sensations flooded through her, thoughts fled. She was consumed by the touch of mouth to mouth, the pressure of seeking lips. By the sweet entanglement of tongues. Desire throbbed and demanded, absorbind everything. His flesh burned, hot and lovely beneath her hands. His mouth burned, moist and sweet against her lips. It was worth anything, everything, to feel this pleasure and exhileration, as if she were melting beneath a foreign sun and were being formed into a new creature.

His mouth released hers at last, and he gazed at her with drugged hot eyes. Her eyelids felt heavy, cumbersome, as if she, too, had inhaled some intoxicating vapor. "Elizabeth." He breathed her name and she leaned forward and replied again with her lips and tongue, searching his mouth, only pulling away when the honey of his kiss hinted at a rusty taste of blood.

"Oh!" She touched the corner of his lips with a fingertip. "I hurt you."

He dropped his forehead into the curve of her shoulder and laughed unsteadily, his breath warm on her neck. "No, you could never hurt me."

She smiled wickedly. "Good."

He suddenly felt himself falling as she pushed him back to land in the plush blankets of their bed. She slowly wove her arms above her head, dancing erotically before his eyes as she pushed her golden tresses above her head only as if fell back down in vain. She shimmied her hips in slow circles as she watched his reaction.

"Do you remember me telling you that I had a dance instructor in Egypt? Do you want to see what she taught me?" She whispered.

He knodded slowly. She turned and running to the window, flung the cirtains wide until the room was bathed in moonlight. Then she faced him, her gown nothing more than a shimmer against her skin as she moved her body in ways he didn't think possible for her. She entranced him, and he sat enraptured with her body as if beckoned him.

She crawled on hands and knees towards him, like a great cat sizing up her prey and he sat up to watch her. Finally, she sat before him, a wicked smile gracing her angelic features. In France, I learned the ways of pleasing a man.

She lifted his night shirt and before he could question her actions, took him in her hand. Stroking, petting, squeezing. He groaned and threw his head back, a look of agony crossing his features. Then she did the unspeakable, she licked it.

His eyes flew back to her as she placed him in her mouth and ran her tongue sensually over every part of him.

His fingers tangled in her hair and she bobbed her head up and down until he though he would explode from the feeling of white hot yearning corsing through his veins. Then, she stopped suddenly and met his dazed gaze with her own.

She crawled up on top of him and pressed her heat against his own as she kissed him fiercly.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, he flipped them and pressed into her. Pain gripped her and she gasped, clenching the sheets in her hands. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes but did not fall. She knew pain far worse than this.

Finally the pain receeded and was replaced with something different. Something pleasant. She pushed him up and ripped his shirt over his head as he clawed at her own gown. The thin fabic shredded in his grip but she didn't care. He lay her back down and pulsed into her quickly. She arched agaist him, her nails swiping over his back leaving long, red, whelps. He screamed into her shoulder.

Muttered, unintelligible words tumbled from Ciel's lips as he pressed fevered kisses along the ivory column of her throat and at the beggining swell of her breasts.

They flipped again and this time she grinned down at him while he smirked up at her. Elizabeth thrust agaist him hard, surrendering herself to the electric currents that shocked her body with each one. His fingers dug into her thighs and she thrust harder again.

Her head flew back and she held herself steady by placing her hands against his shoulders. He tried to grab at her and she grabbed his wrists and smiling, held them secured above his head. Harder, faster, she moved against him. He gasped beneath her, his breaths coming in short pants. She brought one of his hands to rest against her breast as she arched her back breathing heavily with each thrust.

She could feel it, closer, closer.

Ciel's face contorted and she stared down at him.

"Elizabeth." He breathed.

"No." She ground out, pushing harder.

"Lizzy!"

"Yes!" She pulsed quicker and he felt something rush through his viens, his stomache dropped and suddenly he screamed out as his body was enveloped in heat.

She felt it too, and gasped loudly, her head throwing back as her hair stuck to her sweaty face.

Then, she collapsed next to him.

They lay like that for several moments, breathing eachother's breaths and staring through half-lidded eyes at the other. Ciel pulled her to him suddenly and kissed her deep. He wiped away the hair from her forehead and she did the same for him.

"I love you, Ciel." She whispered.

"I love _you_, Lizzy."

After a few moments, he asked her, "What exactly did you go on that trip to learn anyway?"

She smiled. "I already told you, the womanly arts."

He began to laugh.

"Want to see what else I learned?" She whispered seductively. His brow raised and he smirked as he captured her lips with his.

Sleep didn't come for until the early morning hours as the sun began it's hazy acent into the sky to shine upon the two sleeping lovers nestled soundly in eachother's arms.

**Fin.**


	4. Night of Sin

I wanted to cry when I first wrote this because I love CielXElizabeth so much that it broke my heart to have to write Ciel abusing her so much but as the story drew to a close I felt much better. I do believe this is my best work yet.

Dedicated to **DolcePecora** who requested that I do a SebastianXElizabeth pairing.

* * *

><p>Summary: Elizabeth always dreamed that her marriage to Ciel would be a happy and loving one. But it would seem she was so very wrong. Pushed to her limits, she finds comfort in the arms of someone unexpected. You never know how hard you've fallen until you let that certain someone gradually diminish your will to live, reducing your worth and degrading your innocence, all the while forcing you into their twisted vision of love, smirking silently as you suffer. She was shattered, she was broken, but above all, she was only...<p>

Human.

* * *

><p><strong>Night of Sin<strong>

The night their wedding night should have been something special, after all that was the way she had dreamed it would be for years now. He would take her into her arms and kiss her senslessly, tell her over and over how much he loved her. But he didn't.

Elizabeth stood before Ciel as he took a pair of scissors, cutting away at the seams and ribbons of her wedding dress until it fell uselessly to the floor. She smiled nervously but he paid no heed, choosing rather to remove the rest of her underclothes, until a pile grew around her ankles.

When she gasped as the cool metal of the scissors slid across her skin, he finally spoke to her.

"Your in safe hands."

His attempt to reassure her only seemed to make her more unnerved. She tilted her head up, staring at the ceiling as he began to unlace her corsette.

"For the life of me I don't understand why women's attire must be so damned complicated." He seemed to growl.

"I suppose it's just our way of expressing ourselves."

He paused to glance at her. "Whatever do you mean?"

She met his stare with a sad smile. "Well, that you have so many ways of expressing yourselves, whereas we must make do with our hats and our dresses, I suppose."

He hummed to himself then went back to fiddling with the strings until the corset fell to join the others. Suddenly, she found herself standing only in her chemise, until her removed that too. Now, she stood completely bare before him, and he raked his eyes expressionless over her naked flesh.

She felt humiliated, shamed as he bid her to lie on the bed.

After a moment, he began to undress himself, keeping his eyes strictly away from hers and mindless of her own gaze. It wasn't long until he stood before her, and her heart pounded in her chest as she stared at him, slightly afraid. He showed her no compassion, no love. Only duty.

She closed her eyes and scooted back to lay against the plush pillows as he crawled over her, propping his arms on either side of her head so that he could stare down at her.

"Kiss me." He whispered, but it held nothing of the feeling she thought it might. It sounded cold, hard in her ears.

She kissed him, inexpertly as she had never kissed a man before. He pressed her into the sheets then suddenly, she felt a burning pain penetrate through her. She gasped and a whine rose in her throat but he pressed a hand to her mouth to silence her. The pain did not receed for sometime and she lay there motionless as he moved rythmically above her. Until at last, he collapsed next to her. She waited until she heard the soft, low sound of his breathing to indicate he was asleep, the she rolled over and cried softly until sleep could claim her as well.

* * *

><p>It had been several weeks after her marriage when Elizabeth found herself sitting in a desolate room, perched by a large window to stare out across the lands. It was winter, and land was covered in a blanket of white. London never looked more bleak.<p>

There was a knock on the door and she turned her attention to it, craving some solace from the loud bearings of silence. Sebastian stepped in, a kind smile on his dark features.

"The Lady Middleford, My Lady." He said.

Elizabeth smiled relieved as her mother swept galantly into the room and pulled her into a hug. Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw Sebastian bow, and leave.

"Mother." Elizabeth smiled as she embraced the woman she loved so dear.

After a few hours, Elizabeth sat happily with her mother, playing a game of cards.

"So, my darling, how is married life? Do you enjoy it as much as you thought you would?" Her mother asked, laying down a Seven of Spades and taking another card from the deck.

Elizabeth stayed silent, instead choosing to take a card from the deck. "It is, difficult to explain." She finally admitted.

Lady Middleford stared at her daughter, then laid down a card.

"Certain obligations come with marriage no matter how burdensome they may seem." She said.

Elizabeth sighed and placed her cards face down.

"Yes, but when we are together..." She looked around and after assured there was no one to listen in on them she continued. "Intimately I mean, he..."

Lady Middleford held up a hand to stop her.

"I know, it can be a bother. However, it is only until you have given him a son. The occasions will become fewer and less...determined." She said as she laid down a card.

"I think it might be different if he would talk to me every once in a while. It's not that he's unkind but he never talks to me." She said, propping her chin in her hand and turning to gaze out the window.

"Well, perhaps you should talk _less._ I fear I have given you too much education. You make tiring conversation and ask questions which a man is disinclined to answer."

Elizabeth looked at her mother in resignation. How can anyone have too much education?

"Learning these things takes time too. Marriage is like languages or music or painting. It requires a long apprenticeship."

"Yes but he is... he is not at all as he was when we were younger. I thought he would be like papa. Under his cool reserve I would find a wealth of depth and sentiment. But he doesn't seem interested in _anything._ Apart from his duties to the queen, and his butler." Elizabeth felt the tears gather in her eyes and quickly hid them from view.

Lady Middleford placed a hand over her daughters, rubbing her thumb in calming circles over her palm.

"Try not to be too hard on him, darling. He is merely intent on fulfilling his duty. As for talking to him - whatever is there to talk about my dear?"

Elizabeth pulled her hand away and took up her cards again adopting the agitated sneer she wore so often as a child. "No, your right. How foolish of me to think I should be able to converse with my husband.

Lady Middleford sighed and watched her poor daughter.

"Elizabeth, equip yourself with patience, fortitude and resignation. A boy will come soon enough, then you'll see."

Elizabeth nodded and sent her mother a polite little smile. She laid down the winning card and giggling, scooped the pile of money towards her.

* * *

><p>It was the fleeting hand of time that swept the months by from winter into mid spring when Elizabeth found herself with child. And, it was also the first time Ciel treated her with some semblance of affection.<p>

Of course, he wasn't jumping into her bed with her or kissing her sensless, but he did try to comfort her on occasion. He talked to her, he rubbed her shoulders, lavished her with beautiful clothes and jewelry for no apparent reason at all. It seemed for a while that things were beggining to look up for her.

Until that fatefull day when she delivered a beautiful, healthy, darling, baby...girl.

The affection stopped and now, he seemed rather angry with her.

She was at a loss.

But she didn't care. She had her darling little Marie Alexandra Phantomhive, to spoil and lavish with all the love she could not give her husband.

Lady Middleford entered some days later to find her daughter sitting by a ruffled bassinet by a grand window, a slow tune from a music box playing nearby. Elizabeth looked up at her and smiled. The happiest she had seen her daughter in so long.

"Did Ciel recieve you?" She asked with an edge to her tone.

Lady Middleford paused. In fact Ciel had recieved her, but it was with cold indifference.

"Yes."

"Is he angry that she is not a girl? He just glared at her briefly and left. I've not seen him since."

"It is a difficult time for him darling, many eyes are upon him, not all of them kind." Lady Middleford stepped up to look upon her granddaughter with kind eyes. "Is she strong and healthy?"

"She's perfect." Elizabeth whispered kissing the child's nose.

The child whimpered in her mothers arms and Elizabeth set her aside as she began to unbutton her blouse. Lady Middleford watched as her daughter fed her child, softly humming a tune.

She could not help the twinge of worry that settled in her stomache.

* * *

><p>There came a knock on the door and Elizabeth turned away from where she had been playing with Marie. "Yes?" She called.<p>

Sebastian opened the door, a tray of sweet baby food in his hands.

"Oh, thank you Sebastian! I don't know what I would do without your amazing cooking skills." Elizabeth praised taking the tray from him.

"What sort of butler would I be if I couldn't perform such a simple task as this, my lady?"

Elizabeth smiled and dipping a tiny spoon into a bowl of sweet potatoes, offered it to the child who ate it ravenously. Elizabeth giggled.

"Oh, isnt she adorable, Sebastian? My little angel." Elizabeth cooed.

"Ah, yes, just like her mother."

Elizabeth paused, and turned to him surprised, but he only smiled and bowed before sweeping out of the room as if he'd never been there.

* * *

><p>Over the course of three years, Elizabeth found herself pregnant twice more. The first, lasted a period of six months, until an unfortunate accident with the stairs sent her toppling foreward to land at the bottom in a heap.<p>

She had lost the baby, a boy. But it was the first time she had ever seen Ciel so worried for her, since she married him.

Her second pregnancy, she held full term, but by the time she had her son, he only lived for eighteen days. Once again, she was grief stricken and Ciel didn't speak to her for several weeks. Her only comfort was his dark butler, who although did not shower her with sympathies or affection, did give her some support. A shoulder to cry on, a hankerchief to dry her tears, a tray of her favorite dish.

But even these small acts did not stop her from falling into a deep depression that left her empty inside. She felt like a ghost, walking the halls. She didn't sleep, didn't hardly eat. Only continued to exist in her earthly hell.

She found herself sitting on the balcony late one night, simply staring at the stars. And even though it was the dead of winter she sat wearing only a thin gown. Her legs crossed as the cold numbed her toes and she sighed as she leaned back in her chair. Her breath formed a milky cloud in front of her.

"Are you looking to kill yourself?"

She turned slowly and saw him there, a blanket folded in his arms.

"Sebastian."

"Why not, I really have nothing to live for now. My dreams of being his wife have been all but shattered. Really what is my purpose here? I can't even bear him a proper son."

She laughed bitterly.

"It's pointless to persue a man like him." He said draping the blanket around her shoulders. She turned away from him, choosing instead to focus on the inky blackness in front of her.

"He cannot return you feelings, he thinks he should treat you nicely at least but in the end he knows it will only hurt you more... how cruel." He said, rubbing a gloved hand around her throat.

She covered his hand with her own. "Indeed."

"But, I still love him." Hot tears cascaded over her cheeks and he knelt beside her.

"But what do you love? These miserable tears and a relationship that relies on nothing more than sentimentality?"

She glanced at him, "What would you know? Can you possibly say you've ever loved anybody in your entire life?" The fire had returned to her and he smiled.

He stared at her, then a slow, dark smile spread over his features. She felt her pulse pound.

"Yes, I can."

She gasped as she felt something cold on her arm and looked around to find it had started to snow.

"What will you do with this pile of painful thoughts? The weight of it will move neither forward or backward. Even if you call out to him he will never look back to you. But, I'm looking at you right now, Elizabeth. And I see a woman who is starving for the attention she deserves."

She knew there was something wrong with him, but she didn't know what it was. Sebastian was, dark and silent. But, then, so was her husband. However there was an air around this mysterious butler that sent shivers down her spine, but right now, he was showing her the affection she had so craved from Ciel.

After so long of being negletected and placed in the dark, she wanted an escape from it all. She wanted freedom.

"Forget about him. Forget about everything, even if it's just for tonight. Indulge in pleasure, breath this sweet poison deep into your lungs."

She stared at him with a broken smile. She wanted this, but she wanted this with Ciel. But you never know how hard you've fallen until you let that certain someone gradually diminish your will to live, reducing your worth and degrading your innocence, all the while forcing you into their twisted vision of love, smirking silently as you suffer. She was shattered, she was broken, but above all, she was only...

Human.

"I hate you Sebastian."

She leaned forward and kissed him, and something inside her shattered into a million pieces.

He helped her stand and led her back into her bedroom, closing the french doors tight behind them. Warmth stirred within her as her gaze met his in the candlelight. He exuded confidence, intelligence, and sexuality. It was his sexuality that reached out to her now as she became acutely aware of the strength of his hands holding hers with such exquisite care. The whole world slowed back into stillness. Desire flared in the depths of his eyes. She couldn't look away. She couldn't breath.

"Elizabeth." The word was a caress.

Could she willingly make herself anymore vulnerable to this man? She lowered her gaze to the candles burning brightly against the black of the night. The price of such a deed would be her very soul. But her reward could also be a moment of pure happiness. Was it worth the risk?

She trembled as an echo of his desire rippled through her.

Her heart was pounding so hard, she was certain he could hear it. He brushed her throat with the back of his fingers, and a primal shudder moved through her. Her nipples hardened, pushing against the sheer linen of her chemise.

He pulled her to him. "Tell me you want this." His voice was raw as he held his desire in check. She could see the effort his restraint was costing him in the pulse that thrummed in his jaw, the way the muscles in his chest bunched beneath the fabric of his shirt.

"I cannot resist you." She could smell him, that familiar scent of musk, of mint, of maleness. He slipped his hand beneath her shift. He slid his hands up her arms, across her shoulders, then back down, taking the bodice of her gown along with them. The dress fell to her waist, exposing her breasts.

His lips lowered to her breast, and his mouth closed on her nipple. Heat flashed through her, and the muscles of her stomache clenched.

His hands grasped at her breasts, caressing her gently. He nipped at the tender peak, gently rolling her sensitive flesh between his teeth.

Her spine arched and she cried out. She was intensly consious of him pulling her gown down to her ankles. He followed with his hands the path the fabric had taken down the length of her body, leaving her for a moment to toss his tail coat to a separate corner of the room.

He fell to his knees, exploring her bare buttocks in his palms as he buried his face in the tight curls surrounding her womanhood. His tongue slipped inside.

Her fingers reached out, blindly digging into his hair as he continued his assault. She arched backwards, the sensations almost too intense to bear. She could hear the harsh sounds of her breathing echoe in the air.

His teeth closed gently on the small nub of her, nibbled, then pulled, stroking her, teasing her, until she felt as though she would incinerate right there in his arms. She peaked, errupted, as sensation after sensation rode through her, carried her.

In the next moment, he carried her to her bed, nestling her in the downy filled blankets. Quickly shedding the remainder of his clothes, he moved over her, parted her thighs and plunged deep inside. Again, sensation after sensation rippled though her with an intensity that consumed. And she wanted nothing more that to merge into one with him.

He thrust shallowly, then deeply, not letting her get used to the rhythm. She nestled against the blankets, her breaths coming in halting gasps.

"Do you feel me?" He drew out and plunged deep, thick, hot.

She felt every inch of him, but she wanted more. She lunged forward, trying to take more of him. He withdrew until he was barely inside of her. "Is it good?" His voice was almost mocking but she didn't care.

She strained to keep him with her, inside her. "I want all of you."

He plunged deep into her with a force as primal as the night that enveloped them. She arched up from the bed and gave a low cry of satisfaction. She met each thrust with her one of her own. He cupped her buttocks in his palms and lifted her deeper into his thrusts.

"Elizabeth...give me-" He spoke through gritted teeth, his nostils flaring with each harsh breath. "I want more." He moved desperately, his hips thrusting.

Her head thrashed back and forth at the erotic caress of his words, his texture inside her, his passion. Frantic cries filled the air as tension coiled tighter and tighter with each stroke of his body. Sensation streaked through her, building, spiraling. Her senses sharpened, sending shards of sensations: darkness, light, earth, snow, musk, Sebastian.

He thrust again and she climaxed, the tension exploding with a force that sent a fiery release through her. An instant later she could feel him spasm again and again within her, spilling his seed into her womb.

He collapsed on top of her, his breathing harsh and strained. They lay there in silence for several moments. And though Elizabeth had never felt happier, fear tingled at the edge of her awareness. No matter how much she wanted to possess Sebastian tonight, she knew in her heart it was a mistake. She should never have let this happen. All her defenses were down and she lay exposed and vulnerable before him. No matter how many sweet words he wove into her brain or soft caresses he gave her, in the end he would hurt her.

He wouldn't mean to, but in the end, it would happen.

It always happened.

But for now in the aftermath of their lovemaking and shielded by his arms, she would allow the fantasy to continue. Because for the first time since she married Ciel, instead of feeling lonely, confused, and downtrodden, she felt very much alive.

* * *

><p>"You must never speak a word of this to anyone, do you understand?" Elizabeth said cooly.<p>

Sebastian watched her with mild amusement. "Yes, of course."

"If this ever got out, Ciel would be ruined." She turned away from him. "I could never do that to him." She whispered.

"Ah yes, you _love_ him." Sebastian seemed to be mocking her and she glared at him. "Yes, I do."

They stared at eachother for some moments, simply staring. Waiting for the other to make the first move. He reached out. "Elizabeth..."

But she turned away too quickly.

"As long as we understand eachother, then, you may go." He dropped his hand and watched her for some moments more as if hoping she would turn back around. But she didn't. So, he left as silently as he had come, on that night so long ago.

Elizabeth let out a shuddering breath and a lone tear slid over her cheek. She stared out at the garden, which had began it's slow birth into bloom as the last of the frost melted away. Her hand came up to caress her growing abdomen, which barely showed through the heavy fabrics of her dress.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to no one.

* * *

><p>Several months later, Elizabeth finally birthed a healthy, baby boy, with dark hair and peircing green eyes, which had a tendancy of fading into red when he grew to be angry. She named him Tristan: Sorrowful. Her husband was never the wiser and even began to love her as a husband should.<p>

The only person in the world who knew her dark secret stayed securely in the shadows, only watching but never touching her child. Until that fateful day when he and her husband left one day... and never returned.

Elizabeth sat in the garden, watching as her children played together so sweetly. Her darling blonde Marie and her dark haired Tristan. But her children were so different. Marie was bubbly, happy and kind but Tristan, though sweet and innocent, at times he was dark, brooding, frightening like his father.

Marie and Tristan linked arms and spun in a circle as they played ring around the rosie.

_Ring around the rosies_

_A pocket full of posies_

_Ashes, ashes_

_We all fall down_

They both went sprawling backwards only they paid no heed where they were playing, and Tristan flew back into a rose bush. Elizabeth gasped and jumped up, running towards them.

"Tristan darling! Are you alright?" She pulled the little three year old into her arms and he stared up at her curiously. "I'm alright mother."

She held his hand and Marie ran to stand beside her. "Of course your not! Look at your hand!"

There was a large gash on his palm, and blood seeped like a tiny stream. He stared at it then drew it to his lips licking the sticky substance away until Elizabeth snatched his hand back. "Stop that, you'll make it infected, we don't want...that..." She trailed off as she looked at his hand. The gash was gone.

Tristan smiled up at her and his eyes flickered from green to purple slits. She felt her pulse beat in her ears. "See mama, I'm alright."

He jumped out of her arms and ran off to play with his sister. From a high perch in a nearby tree, a raven took flight, cawing in the distance. She stood slowly as she watched it. Then turned back to her son.

She always wondered what was wrong with Sebastian, why she always felt he was so different.

Now, she felt she knew.


	5. Lessons

Just something short to pass the time, no sex in this one though, sometimes you just get tired of writing sex scenes. But there will be more just not in this one. Something sweet or at least I thought so.

* * *

><p>Summary: Elizabeth practices her fencing.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Lessons<strong>

The early morning sun shone brightly through the tall windows in the great hall. It slowly began to warm the floor and made the bright marble floors gleam.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and relaxed her posture, rolling her shoulders in soothing circles to release the tension in her arms. She bounced slightly on her heels and rolled her head from side to side for a moment. Then, carefully, she slid her body into that oh, so familiar position.

Raising her arms, she drew her sword and smirked at her opponent.

"Are you sure about this? I could hurt you without your protective gear." She said.

Her opponent laughed.

"Yes, you could. But will you?" He said, sliding into a defensive stance.

"We'll see." She lunged and he parried.

"Very good, your improving. And why not? With a teacher like me, you should be amazing." She mocked.

"Don't get cocky." He muttered. She laughed.

This time, he lunged and she blocked his attack, forcing it back. Parry, clash, lung, parry again.

It was an intricate dance between two people, a dance of swords.

"Excellent form, but how's your footwork?" She asked as she stepped to the left. Her sword shot up proving that he was too slow to comprehend her movements yet. The blade sliced the fabric of his tunic at his shoulder, leaving only a tear but no cut. Elizabeth smirked as she pointed the blade beneath his chin, tilting his head up..

He glared at her, batting away her sword. "That was my favorite shirt."

"Aww, tch tch tch." She tutted, waving a finger at him. "I'm sure Sebastian can mend it later, darling."

"You had better hope so, _darling_." He smirked at her. He lunged at her and she blocked but he had gotten close, too close. Their swords crossed in an X and he stood, staring her in the face, breathing her breath. He kissed her.

She gasped and he laughed as they parted.

"Don't let your guard down." He mocked.

"Hmm."

She smiled and lunged again, but he had let her guard down. His sword swiped across her leg, tearing a slit in the fabric of her chemise, revealing the smooth, creamy skin of her thigh. She glanced up at him and her lip curled up into a slight smirk.

Cocking her head to the side as she acknowledged him she muttered, "Not bad."

Lung, parry, swipe, thrust, lung again.

He pulled her close a second time, smiling.

"Not bad at all."

Kiss.

She growled in frustration and swiped at him.

"Temper, temper love." He laughed.

Meeting each swipe of her sword with one of his own, he finally found an opening and cut the sleeve of her chemise so that it fell away from her shoulder. She glanced at her shoulder then back at him.

"At this rate, we're going to be naked by the time this duel is finished." She laughed, pushing her long, golden tresses behind her, so that they fell even with her waist.

"That's what I'm aiming for."

"So soon? I would have thought you'd be exausted after last night." She smiled at him and he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I never tire of being with you, Lizzy."

She smirked.

"Aww, how sweet." Lunging, she hooked her blade in the handle of his, swiping it out of his hand to clatter across the hall. The tip of her own blade came to rest over his heart and he sighed in defeat.

"This will make things much more difficult."

"Oh, I should hope so, because now, your dead." She smiled.

"Maybe."

They circled eachother, then without warning, he flipped backwards twice, grabbing his fallen weapon and facing her with a triumphant smile.

"Cute trick." She mocked.

"I only live to please."

Thrust, parry, thrust, clash, kiss.

This time, it was she who was laughing at his flustered face. "Not so fun now that the tables have turned is it?"

"Oh, believe me, it's plenty fun."

Suddenly, he swiped, sending her sword flying but before she could do anything, he dropped, kicking her feet out from under her.

Pining her arms above her head, he laughed as she glared up at him.

"That's not fair, Ciel." She pouted.

"All's fair in love and war, Lizzy." He stated, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"Now, how about I teach you a lesson of my own, hmm?"


	6. Spain

My newest inspiration, the first of the many spinoff stories of The Edge of Propriety. Kinda long but it focuses on two romances this time.

* * *

><p>Summary: Elizabeth want's to go to spain but Ciel refuses, so she concocts a plan to convince him otherwise.<p>

Sebastian meets a saucy senorita by the name of Carmen.

* * *

><p><strong>Spain<strong>

Six months.

That's how long they had been married, and Elizabeth loved every single minute of it. Of course, it wasn't always cream and strawberries. There were of course, times when she grew frustrated with her _loving_ husband.

Like right now, for example.

"Ciel, _please_!" Elizabeth pleaded as she leaned sweetly over his desk. He sighed and slapped the documents he was holding firmly on the desk top. "No, Lizzy! I've far to much work to do to just pack up and ship off to Spain right now!"

She huffed in frustration. "Please, you do not! Those are merely business documents that can be settled at a different time. _Sebastian_ could get them done in an hour tops!" She argued.

He propped his chin in his hand and smirked at her.

"You know that last comment actually hurt a little. Don't you have any confidence in me?"

"Tough love, darling. And I have all the confidence in the world in you, but sometimes you can be a work-a-holic." She sashayed around the desk and perched on his knee, kissing his cheek fondly. "You could use a little vacation time you know." She whispered sugestively.

"No."

She gave him a flat stare and stood abruptly, stalking over to the wall where the servant's bell hung. Reaching up, she deftly gave it a ring.

"What are you doing?" He asked amused as he rifled though the papers once more.

"I'm having Sebastian move my things into one of the spare rooms." She replied haughtily.

He chuckled, "Oh really? And how long do you plan to stay like this, hmm? It will be rather lonesome don't you think?" He smiled at her.

She smirked.

"Lonesome for you maybe, but it's only until you agree to take me to Spain. I give it...oh I should say...three days before you agree." She said, her petite finger poised at her chin cutely as she thought this over.

He snorted. "Right, we'll see." He retorted sarcastically.

There came a knock from the door and Sebastian entered at Elizabeth's bidding. "You rang?"

"Yes, move my things to one of the guest suits, please. I will not be lodging with my husband for the time being." Elizabeth said turning to him. Sebastian turned to look at the rather annoyed Ciel who sat glaring at his wife's back.

"Go ahead Sebastian." He said, waving his hand.

Sebastian smirked as he bowed then left.

"This won't work you know. I'm going to laugh when you come crawling back, begging me to let you back in." He said.

She smirked at him, then backed out the door.

"We shall see my love, we shall she."

The door closed abruptly, cutting her off from him.

Ciel growled and ran a hand over his face and through his hair.

"Women."

* * *

><p>"Lover's quirrel, master?" Sebastian asked smirking as he served Ciel his tea, having moved Elizabeth's things.<p>

"Shut up." He grumbled.

"I am curious as to what brought all this on." He said idly.

"She want's to go to Spain." Ciel replied.

"Ah, and that would be so terrible, why?"

"I'm far to busy."

"Of course you are."

Ciel's brow ticked as he glanced up at his vexing butler. "Was there anything else you wanted?" He asked, annoyed.

Sebastian smiled and gathered the tray to take back to the kitchen.

"Of course not." He replied as he left.

Ciel went back to his work.

* * *

><p>"Tch, she thinks I can't last three days without her. Well, I'll show her." Ciel mumbled to himself as he pulled back the sheets to his bed. He plopped down upon the mattress and closed his eyes.<p>

"See, easy."

After a few moments, he rolled over, his arm reaching out and grasping air. He sighed.

"NO!" He snatched his arm back and curled in on himself. Minutes passed and he bagan to feel restless. He tossed and turned. Trying to find a comfortable position, but no matter what, it eluded him. He pressed the heals of his palms into his eyes and groaned. Then, he just lay very still.

Sleep came but only for a few moments.

But that was all he needed to dream of her.

_Her laughter echoed in his ears as she turned to kiss him. His hands grasped her waist and she snuggled into his embrace, whispering sweet words in his ear. She kissed his neck, his chin, his lips. _

He woke up.

Growled.

He punched his pillow.

Damn her.

* * *

><p>Breakfast came early, too early. Ciel slouched in his chair, his eyes heavy with a sleep that had barely come. His hair was ruffled, and he leaned heavily into his palm as he ate his eggs. She waltzed in, dressed in a silk dressing gown, with her hair hanging freely around her shoulders. She smiled warmly at him and he straitened up quickly.<p>

"Sleep well, darling?" She asked him innocently and he smirked.

"Like a child."

"Oh, that's nice."

She turned to Maylene to tell her what she would like to have and while she did, he glared at her. Sebastian snickered, earning him a glare in turn.

"Are there any plans today darling?" She asked sweetly as she nibbled on her toast.

"Work, _darling._" He stressed.

She frowned but it was swept away by a seductive smile that left him breathless.

"Oh, that's too bad. I thought I might go shopping today, if that's alright with you, I'm in need of a new gown. Something for warmer weather should suffice." She said idly.

He glanced at the windows where the autumn leaves had began to fall from a gust of wind.

"Surely you jest, in this weather?" He asked.

She smiled her secretive smile. "Oh, you never know. I have a feeling it' s going to be very _hot_ soon enough."

She turned to Maylene. "Would you like to accompany me, Maylene?"

Maylene smiled, then bowed. "Yes, mistress. Of course."

"Then it's settled. We leave after breakfast." She said, clapping her hands together joyfully. Elizabeth rose, and passed him.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm not very hungry, I think I will go get ready now." She said as she left.

Ciel sighed and continued to eat his breakfast silently.

He didn't see her for the rest of the day after that. In fact, it wasn't until around ten o'clock when a subtle knock resounded from his office door.

"Come in." He muttered, flipping through pages then scribbling something in black ink.

"Your really hanging in there aren't you?" She said as she walked up to his desk.

He smiled and wrote something again. "I told you it wouldn't work."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her sit on the edge of his desk, her silk robe falling away from her thighs.

"Are you sure?" She asked huskily.

He glanced up and his pen dropped. She sat staring down at him seductivly, dressed in nothing but a red and black lacy corsette, and long, sheer, black stockings held up by lacy garters. He swallowed thickly and she smirked as she leaned forward, grasping his chin in her hand to pull him closer. Rubbing her nose with his she sighed. "Are you sure you won't reconsider?" She asked him.

He closed his eyes and she pulled away. When he opened them, she came around and perched herself in his lap. "The rewards would be veeerrryy promising." She whispered placing his hand against the creamy skin of her thigh. He choked as his eyes roamed over her body, then suddenly, he smirked. He pulled her close to whisper huskily in her ear.

"No."

She pulled away from him and smirked herself. "We'll see."

She kissed his nose then standing abruptly, left.

Ciel groaned and dropped his head to land against his desk.

* * *

><p>The third day was nearing his breaking point. Rain pounded against the window panes rythmically while thunder rumbled in the distance. He sat once more in his office, rifling through the seemingly endless documents when she waltzed in once more. He glared up at her, and she laughed at his appearance. His hair stuck out at all angles, his neck tie was loose and his sleeves were rolled haphazardly to his elbows.<p>

But she didn't look overly dressed herself. She wore a simple brown vest over a white shirt with a simple dark blue skirt. Her hair was coiled in a simple bun at the nape of her neck with a sigle pin holding it it place. Walking up slowly she came to stand beside him and ran warm fingers through his hair sweetly. She leaned over his shoulder to glance at the documents and then pulled them from his grasp to lay them gently on the desk.

"How about a game of chess to ease your nerves?" She asked him softly.

He sighed and knodded.

They sat in the parlor, staring intently at eachother. She smiled and moved a pawn.

"How long do you intend to keep this up?" He asked her and she smiled warmly at him. "Until I get what I want." She said.

He moved his knight.

"Elizabeth, please. I'm far too busy right now."

She stared at the board and crossed her legs, moving her skirt to sit above her knee exposing her creamy legs. She picked up her bishop and rubbed it along her lips in thought. Then set it down, taking his knight.

"Do you ever feel like a chesspiece in a game being played against your will?" She asked him.

He glanced away from her legs to look at her. "Do you?" He asked as he moved his rook to take her bishop.

She smiled tiredly.

"Constantly. Sometimes I feel as if we can't control ourselves or our lives. But it is the queen or those around us pulling us from square to square until we are forced to take the other out."

She looked up at him, smiling sadly.

"Is this how are marriage is to be? Fighting over time spent together? Work?"

He averted his eyes from her and the thunder rolled outside. She moved her knight.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked her.

"Because you need to realize life isn't just work and your duties to the queen. You have a wife who loves you. Servants who are fiercely loyal to you. And all the time in the world. Why not indulge in some of it?"

He moved his pawn to take her knight.

'Because I don't have all the time in the world.'

"As for your chesspiece predicament, then you should master the game until you play it better than they can." He said.

"You don't suggest I have you play it for me?" She said.

He watched her carefully for a moment then smiled.

"I should play it with you, not for you."

She smiled and ran a hand across her knee, then sat back reaching up to pull the pin from her hair. It fell in golden waves down her back, and she smiled as he watched transfixed. Ciel leaned back into his chair and sighed.

"Sebastian!"

Sebastian appeared moments later. "Yes, my lord?"

"Prepare our bags, we're going to spain on the marrow." Elizabeth smiled and Sebastian bowed then turned to leave.

She leaned forward and moved her queen to capture his king.

"I believe that's check, darling." She said sweetly.

He chuckled.

"Well played, you got your wish after all. But first thing's first." He stood and swept her giggling into his arms, carrying her up the stares and into their room.

He set her gently on her feet and kissed her lovingly, slowly, savoring the taste of her on his lips. The leap of Ciel's heart started the blood surging through his veins, and his long-starved passions seized control of his body. His eyes flared in heated lust as his fingers worked at the buttons of his shirt. In a moment, his pale shoulders gleamed naked in the candlelight, and he sat on the bed to remove his boots as she pulled at the buttons of her vest.

She circled around the bed, slipping out of her heels and skirt to climb in behind him. She pressed close against him, laying her arms over his shoulders, and Ciel's mind reeled with the ecstasy of her soft breasts rubbing against his back, tantalizing him and stirring his passions until they became a hot, sweet ache in the pit of his belly. This was Elizabeth, tempting, warm, responsive, capable of setting his very being on fire. The last boot thudded to the floor as her hands slipped down his hard back, pausing momentarily as her left hand found the scar of his brand just at the edge of his side. She kissed his shoulder and brought her hands to slide over his arms.

He sprawled back upon the bed, twisting slightly as he reached for her, pulling her down upon him. As his mouth reached to entrap hers, his hand wandered up, moving from her buttock to her breast, then further still, catching his thin fingers in the buttons of her shirt before being joined by his other hand. She gasped in surprise as he ripped the garment apart, buttons flying, spilling free the ripe fullness of her bosom before his hungering eyes. His mouth touched her breast with a moist, burning heat that took her breath away and set her heart racing wildly within the cavity of her chest. She shivered, feeling consumed by the slow licking flame of his tongue, and her whole being throbbed with each wet, languid caress.

With another tug, he pulled her shirt away completely and tossed it to the end of the bed. The deep azure eyes struck sparks against her flesh, and with a hint of a mysterious smile, she raised upright, taking his hand and drawing him to his knees until they faced eachother with her limbs tucked within the spread of his. His hands slid about her waist and glided down over her buttocks while she pressed slow, languid kisses against his throat and the line of his jaw. Thunder clashed and she jumped. He snickered.

"Be quiet." She mumbled.

"What? I think it's cute, your afraid of thunder." He whispered. She silenced him with a kiss. The soft, pale peaks of her breast brushed his chest, tormenting him with the sweet ecstasy of it.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you more." She replied kissing his jaw.

His arms caught her close, and his mouth siezed hers with a fervor of sweet, slow kisses. Tonight wasn't about fast, frantic sex. Tonight, they were going to savor what they had missed.

When they came apart, their eyes smoldered with a common heat. Her hands slid admiringly over his muscular ribs to the waistband of his trousers, and then stroked down lean thighs while his own plucked the buttons free. His breath sucked in through clenched teeth as her fingers slipped inside the top of the loosened garment and teased him with a feathery light caress against his hard belly. The hot blood shot through his loins and thudded through him, cauterizing his mind with his ravaging needs.

He rose briefly to his feet, then came back in full, naked glory, taking her against him and pressing hard and hot between her thighs. His mouth came down upon hers with rapacious hunger, twisting, devouring, awakening passions she hardly knew existed. He laid her down, and his hands and lips glided over her silken flesh with the bold confidence of a man who had no doubt in himself. With purposefull intent, he plucked at the strings of her senses, and she responded with soft, melodic sighs. Swept by building passion and brought ever nearer to that damn of restraint, she began to tremble and writhe. Their eyes melded in warm union as he braced himself above her, then came ecstasy, plunging inside to merge with her.

A flooding tide of emotinos washed through Elizabeth, and her whole being came alive. The strokes of his body were smooth and languid against her own until the lusting heat made them both greedy for more. He raised on his knees, holding her buttocks as she arched her back to meet his thrusts. She rubbed slowly, roughly against him, filling herself to the core and her mouth opened in agonizing bliss. She heard him breathing heavily though his nostrils above her and she clenched the pillows tight in her fists.

Thrust after each hard, slow thrust sent her higher and higher until she thought she would burst. Finally, he pulled her up until he was holding her to him, her legs wrapped firmly around his waist as she rocked against him. Their lips clashed and their sounds of pleasure meshed together. She clung to him and he to her as they were lifted ever higher in the crest of their passion. The raindrops trickled down the panes of glass, but the pair gave them no heed as they sipped the nectar of sated desires.

The master's suit was shaded from the morning sun, and only a minimum light leaked around the velvet drapes drawn over the french doors and crystal windows. Elizabeth stirred, reaching out a hand searchingly to the far side of the bed. Finding the place empty, she sat up and glanced quickly about the room but to no avail. Though she listened carefully, she heard nothing to indicate Ciel was anywhere in the suite of rooms. Sometime during the night he had carried her to his bed, ending the matter of separate rooms with the firm declaration of where she belonged. It was a massive room, tasteful in its accoutrements and decor. Dark blues and soft taupes were in abundance, while velvets, tapestries, leathers, and deeply hued woods gave the room a masculine warmth.

Smoothing her tumbled hair away from her cheek she leaned back into the pillows with a dreamy sigh. She turned her head to the side as a knock came from the door and Ciel entered. His visage brought a warm, loving smile to her face and he sat on the edge of the bed smiling down at her himself.

"Now, was it my imagination, or wasn't your whole purpose of torturuing me for the simple fact that you wanted to go to Spain, and yet here you are, still lazing around in bed." He chided.

She laughed and reached up so that she could pull him down to kiss him.

She loved him.

* * *

><p>Elizabeth sighed in bliss as she stepped out into the warm, spanish sun and spun in a slow circle basking in it's heat. She had missed Spain, it's exotic culter, delicious food, inviting people. She missed it all.<p>

She turned to face Ciel who stood on the veranda to watch her with a smile on his face. She went back to him, and wrapping her arms around his waist, laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "This is where Aunt Perdita and I stayed in our travels. Isn't wonderful?" She turned to stare up at him.

"Hmm, I have to admit, it is pretty relaxing here." He murmered. "Though, dreadfully hot."

She laughed.

She pulled away suddenly and grabbed his arm to pull him along. "Come on, let's go into town. There's someone I want you to meet." She said happily.

The town was bustling with people of all types. Women stood behind small stalls, selling various types items and foods. Elizabeth approached one woman and purchased from her some bolts of fabric of different colors, cream, red, and blue.

She turned to him, and smiled. "Wait here."

She disappeared inside another store and moments later, returned. "I've comissioned us some clothes to better suit the weather here. I hope you like them, they should arrive at the villa in two days." She said.

"I'm sure I'll love them." He said. "Of course you could have just had Sebastian make them you know?"

Elizabeth turned to said butler and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't think you knew the style very well."

"It's quite all right, my lady."

She turned and her face lit up in happiness as she spotted something in the distance. "Oh, Ciel, there she is! Come along!"

He found himself pulled along and Sebastian snickered behind him.

They stopped suddenly within a crowd of people, gathered in a loose circle to watch some type of performance. In the center, a dark skinned gypsy woman danced a fervent flamenco in a swirl of red peticoats and golden bangles. Behind her, a three man band played fast, upbeat music on their guitars and drums. As her dancing picked up, the deep, husky voice of the eldest band member began to sing in a language foreign to Ciel's ears.

Her raven hair coiled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, decorated by blood red carnations. Her golden eyes twinkled mischeviously at her audience and she bent and twirled in ways that seemed impossible.

She stopped suddenly, producing a black laced fan and waved it seductively before her face. The singing and music stopped as she did and she smiled.

Elizabeth glanced at Sebastian who watched with a slightly amused face. The woman stepped forward, the guitars played, she started to sing.

Love is a rebellious bird  
>that no one can tame,<br>and in vain you call his name  
>when it suits him to refuse.<br>No point in threats or pleading voice.  
>One man talks well, the other's mum.<br>It's the silent one that I prefer,  
>he's said nothing, but I like him.<p>

She weaved in and out of the crowd, runing her hands along the unsuspecting men of the audience, captivating them with her voice and eyes.

Love! Love! Love! Love!

Love is the child of gypsy life;  
>he has never, ever, known the law.<br>If wont love me, then I'll love you;  
>and if I love you, watch out!<br>If you won't love me, if you won't love me, then I'll love you!  
>But if I love you, if I love you, watch out!<p>

All watched in awe as this siren bewitched them, casting her dangerous spell. She let her face contort to sensual bliss and her hands fisted in her skirt, pulling them teasingly to her knees, only to drop them again.

Soon, Ciel, Elizabeth and Sebastian found themselves separated from the crowd and she flounced towards him, smiling secretively. Ciel held back a smirk as she beckoned the stoic butler into her arms, dancing with him slowly. Her voice rang soft, like little bells and Sebastian stared down at her slightly captivated, but hid it with a well placed, amused smile.

The bird you thought you had caught  
>beat its wings and flew away.<br>When loves far off, it makes you wait;  
>when you stop waiting, there it is!<br>All around you, swift, swift,  
>it comes, goes, then it returns,<br>you think you hold it fast, it flees,  
>you think you're free, it holds you fast.<p>

She twirled away from him suddenly, and Ciel snickered as he came to stand beside them agian.

"Have fun?" He mocked.

Sebastian smirked at him then pointed to his side, where Elizabeth had disappeared. Ciel began to panic until a new voice entered the song. His eyes widened.

Love! Love! Love! Love!

Love is the child of gypsy life;  
>he has never, ever, known the law.<br>If wont love me, then I'll love you;  
>and if I love you, watch out!<br>If you won't love me, if you won't love me, then I'll love you!  
>But if I love you, if I love you, watch out!<p>

The woman turned suddenly, fire in her eyes but it was extinguished as she saw the girl that had newly entered the circle. She wore nothing but her corsette and petticoat, not an uncommon thing for women in the hot weather of spain but, her golden hair set her apart from the others. But her voice did not, if anything she sounded just at good as the other woman before her.

The people cheered as they recognized the girl, prompting a great deal of surprise from Ciel and Sebastian.

The woman sung and danced with her.

Love is the child of gypsy life;  
>he has never, ever, known the law.<br>If wont love me, then I'll love you;  
>and if I love you, watch out!<br>If you won't love me, if you won't love me, then I'll love you!  
>But if I love you, if I love you, watch out!<p>

As they finished, an applause errupted in the air, throwing coins at their feet. The two performers bowed until the crowd disppersed.

Elizabeth smiled and hugged the woman as she talked rapidly in spanish. The woman looked happily shocked and held her at arms length as she observed her, then pulled her back into another hug.

Elizabeth gestured towards Ciel, prompting the woman to look over at him with a devilish smile. She said something and Elizabeth gave her a sly grin, the woman laughed.

"Ciel darling," Elizabeth said, pulling the woman towards him. "This was my instructor during my visit, Carmen."

Carmen smiled at them, particularily the butler.

"And, who is this handsome man?" She asked. He bowed to her, a smile gracing his features.

"Sebastian Michaelis, madame."

She smiled as he kissed the top of her hand. "The pleasure is _all_ mine."

* * *

><p><strong>The song is the english version of Bizet's Habenera from the opera Carmen. Obviously it fit the character but seeing as she is in Spain, I didn't want to have her singing in French as it wouldn't make sense so I had her sing in English since I don't trust my Spanish translation.<strong>


	7. Elaborate Charades

Just something to pass the time, feeling alittle dark so thought I might do a little something with Lizzy again, but ya know something less depressing and more, secretive.

* * *

><p><strong>Elaborate Charades<strong>

She stared down at the people below. Her high position on the balcony provided her cover from their curious gazes, and kept her hidden in the shadows. She fooled them all, enveloped them in an elaborate charade that they never even knew exhisted.

She wasn't who they thought she was, she wasn't the bubbly, happy go lucky girl with bouncy blonde curls that they all saw her as. Her green eyes didn't really shine with glowing innocence. Her smile wasn't permanently plastered to her face. No, she was different.

He made her different.

She heard him approach but paid him no heed.

"You see...you try to be with them, but you always end up in the dark..." He whispered as he came to stand close behind her. She closed her eyes, then opened them again breathing deep.

"...with me."

She continued to stare down at her friends as they danced gaily, clueless to the world around them. She saw Ciel, chatting aimlessly with a guest. It was his charade too. She knew he didn't want to be there anymore than she did.

The man behind her turned his gaze below as well.

"What would they think of you...if they found out, all the things you've done?"

His hand came up to caress her bare shoulder.

"All the things _we've_ done?"

His voice was sickly sweet in her ears, but she couldn't make it stop.

"If they knew...who you really were..." He smiled, bringing his hand down to caress her thigh through her dress. The breath caught in her throat and she grimaced.

"Sebastian, don't." She whispered, pleading.

He chuckled darkly and slid his hand lower.

"Stop me."

She closed her eyes in pain because she knew she couldn't, she could never stop him. Her skirt pulled up, revealing smooth legs and his hand disappeared beneath. She breathed deep, choked back a moan even as his own deep breath blew against the back of her neck. She felt him grind against her, felt his slip inside.

She bit her lip.

"No, don't close your eyes."

She opened them and stared down at the floor. Ciel seemed to be looking at her, but she knew he couldn't see. It was too dark for anyone to see them.

"Look at them...that's not your world..."

Ciel's gaze burned into her own but she fought against the idea that he might see. She hated lying to him like this.

"You belong in the shadows..."

Ciel's brows lowered ominously and he looked away. A tear fell, rolling over her cheek and dropping to the dance floor below.

"With me."

She was breathing heavily now, her tears beggining to dry as anger replaced grief.

"Look at your friends, and tell me you don't love getting away with this."

She did. She loved the secrets. She loved the scandal. She loved the darkness.

"Right under their noses."

She watched Ciel leave and her breathing slowed. A bitter smile painted her features and she leaned her head back to lay on his shoulder.

If Ciel wouldn't love her, then she found someone who would.

Even if it was all just an elaborate charade.


	8. The Little Things

**Just some short insights to Ciel and Elizabeth's first child. Still following the edge of propriety.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>The Little Things<span>**

She was laying in their bed as if she hadn't just been put through the worst pain in her whole life. A gentle smile reserved only for him was waiting on her lips and he stepped cautiously into the room as if waiting for something to jump out at him.

She was sweaty and her hair was a little tousled but it didn't matter, because she was still beautiful to him. He stepped up to her side and stared at the pink blanket in her arms. She pulled a corner of it aside to reveal a small, pudgy, red face with light black fuzz sleeping soundly. He felt something swell in his chest and turned curious eyes to her. She smiled knowingly and pulled him down to sit beside her. Gently, she manuevered the baby in his arms and he held her for the first time.

His heart beat frantically in his chest and he almost felt like crying. Something he believed he could never have he finally had. After all of the horrible, disgusting things he did in his life of twenty-two years, what could he have done to deserve something as precious as this.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared at him for a minute, a tiny smile twitching at the corner of her mouth before she fell asleep again. But in that little moment he knew he loved her, without ever even knowing who she was going to be. She looked so pure, sweet, like a little angel in his dark world.

Elizabeth watched him and he placed her back within her arms as he continued to stroke the infant's head. "She's perfect." He whispered.

"She still needs a name." Elizabeth whispered to him.

He pondered for a minute, she was everything he ever wanted. Brilliant, bright, beautiful.

"Clarissa."

She smiled and kissed him.

"Clarissa Phantomhive. I love it."

He played with her tiny fingers and she clutched her hand around his large index finger. For the first time since that day, he smiled a true smile.

Elizabeth felt tears gather in her eyes.

He was finally happy.

* * *

><p>From the moment his daughter was born, Ciel's conduct was puzzling to all observers and he upset many settled notions about himself, notions which both the town and Elizabeth were loath to surrender. Whoever would have thought he of all people would be so shamelessly, so openly pround of fatherhood? Especially in view of the embarassing circumstance that his first-born was a girl and not a boy.<p>

The novelty of fatherhood did not wear off. This caused some secret envy among women whose husbands took offspring for granted, long before the children were christened. He thought his daughter marvelous, not to be compared with lesser brats, and he did not care who knew it. When the nurse permitted the baby to suck a bit of pork fat, thereby bringing on the first attack of colic, Ciel's conduct sent seasoned father's and mother's into gales of laughter. He hurriedly summoned three doctors and with difficulty he was restrained from beating the unfortunate nurse with his crop. The nurse was discharged and therefore followed a series of nurses who remained, at most, a week. None of them were good enough to satisfy the exacting requirements Ciel laid down.

Finally, Maylene proved her worth when she was able to perform every task with ease that Ciel laid down, promoting her to nursemaid.

Ciel stood over her bassinett, shaking it lightly as she stared up at him curiously. He cooed softly at her and Elizabeth stifled a giggle from the bed.

"Yes, she's a beautiful baby." He smiled as she cooed at him. "Do you know that today is your birthday? That your a week old today?" He murmured sweetly at he gently picked her up to cradle in his arms.

"Yes, I'm gonna buy her a pony the likes this town has never seen. And I'm gonna send her to the best schools in London, yes and she'll be recieved by the best families. And when it comes time for her to _marry_..." He bounced her gently as he went to stand at the foot of the bed. "Well, she'll be a little princess."

Sebastian, who had entered some time while he was bent over her cradle, stared at him somewhat amused.

"You certainly are making a fool of yourself." He said.

Ciel glared at him.

"Well, why shouldn't I? She's the first thing in the world that ever completely belonged to me." He said smiling down at her.

Elizabeth laughed and tugged him down to her, "You mean second, darling. I've always belonged to you." She said as she kissed him.

* * *

><p>Elizabeth had been up reading for about an hour already and had just rolled over to go to sleep when she heard it. Past the dull, rhythmic snoring of her husband, like the gentlest song from the beak of a mockingbird, the tiniest voice emerged from the darkness of the bedroom. Calling to her by a name which brought a smile to her face every time she heard it.<p>

"Mommy?"

Laying on her side, she craned her neck upward and looked through the dark in the direction of the door. A little figure stood motionless in the doorway, it's small arms clutching something to its chest. Again a tiny voice whimpered softly through the black.

"Daddy?"

Fear was evident in the little figure's voice. Not that Elizabeth needed to hear her speak to know that. The thick, heavy feeling in her chest, flowing through her like a river was enough to tell her something had happened.

"What is it, sweetie?" she whispered, soft enough to not disturb the man sleeping next to her, but loud enough to let the voice know she had heard.

Stepping out of the darkness, the fragile form of five-year-old Clarissa Phantomhive entered the square of moonlight cast upon the carpeted floor. Her little, white nightgown, seemed to glow in the lunar light as her arms clutched a stuffed rabbit to her chest and her eyes blinked with tiny unshed tears.

"Monsters," she said. "In my room."

Sitting up in bed, Elizabeth faced the frightened child, giving a soft and comforting smile. The kind of smile which was only reserved for a select few in her life. "Monsters, huh?" she said. Through the dim light she saw the little girl nod and clutch the stuffed toy in her arms tighter. For a moment, she looked down at the still sleeping form of her husband, his face buried deeply in his pillow, his arms and legs sticking out in random directions from underneath the covers as he abruptly snorted and began snoring momentarily louder.

Returning her gaze to her daughter she smirked slightly. "Did they sound anything like Daddy?"

Clarissa smiled and shook her head, her little blue-black curls shaking back and forth on either side of her face. "No," she said softly. "They're scarier than that."

Holding back a tiny laugh, Elizabeth widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Scarier than Daddy's snoring?" she asked. Again the little girl nodded at her. "Well," she continued. "I guess we have no choice, you'll have to sleep in here with us."

Another small smile crossed the little girls lips as she ran quickly to her mother's side and crawled in between her parents. She was asleep in no time, nestle deeply in Elizabeth's side, clutching Ciel's hand firmly in her grasp. After a few moment Ciel cracked open and eye and smiled before kissing the top of her head softly and going back to sleep.

* * *

><p>He hung his coat on the rack situated by the door and turned to head up the stairs when he heard the unmistakable clomping of feet on the stairway.<p>

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" She cried happily, dark curls and velvety blue dress flying. She reached the bottom and he caught her, swinging her up into a massive hug. "I missed you so much, Daddy!" She said wrapping her tiny arms around his broad shoulders.

He had been gone on business for a month but it seemed a lifetime to bear.

"And I missed you Lissa darling." He said kissing her cheek fondly.

"I brought you a present." He whispered and smiled as her eyes lit up.

"What?" She asked excitedly.

"It's out front, why don't you go see." He said as he saw Lizzy heading slowly down the stairs, a welcoming smile awaiting him.

He set her down and she ran swiftly out the door. Elizabeth hugged him tight and kissed him sweetly. "Oh, I hate these long trips away. But I love having you back with me again." She whispered.

"What did you buy her this time?" She asked as they strolled leisurely towards the door. He smiled secretively at her.

Their child's excited scream echoed through the foyer followed by the high pitched whinny of a pony. Elizabeth turned to him surprised. "Oh, Ciel you didn't!" She said.

"Oh, but I did."

"She's much too young!"

"She grow into it."

Elizabeth sighed and they stepped outside to find their daughter hugging the neck of a small black stallion pony.

* * *

><p>Sebastian stood in the kitchen preparing dinner that evening when she came tip-toeing in behind him. She thought that he didn't know she was there, and she silently climbed up onto a stool to pull the small glass cookie jar towards her.<p>

She turned peeking over her shoulder, but he continued chopping vegetables. Lifting the lid, she reached inside, but just as she grabbed a cookie, she felt hands wrap securely around her middle and lift her into the air. She pouted and turned to face him as he set her down. "How do you always catch me? I know I didn't make a sound that time." She whined. He smiled.

"I have sensitive hearing." He went back to chopping.

She didn't leave right away but stood beside him, staring curiously.

"Is there anything I can help you with Miss Clarissa?" He asked glancing sideways at her.

She placed a finger to her lip in thought as she scrutinized him.

"Are you a monster?" She asked him suddenly.

His chopping paused and she turned to her.

"I wouldn't say that. Why, do you find me scary?"

Bright, sapphire eyes peered up at him and a grin slid onto her face.

"Mommy says monsters have really good hearing so I shouldn't sneak into the kitchen or you'll catch and eat me." She said innocently.

Sebastian chuckled.

Of course Elizabeth would tell her daughter something like that.

He almost dropped his knife as he felt pressure on his legs.

Glancing down, he saw that the little girl had wrapped her arms around his knees and was hugging him tight, a smile on her face.

"But I don't think your scary or a monster. I like you Sebastian."

He slowly reached down and patted her head then she smiled and skipped out of the kitchen. Suddenly, he chased after her.

Grabbing the cookie out of her hand before she could take a bite he chuckled and waggled a finger at her.

"Nice try."

She pouted, but as soon as he was out of site, she procured another from her pocket. Smiling mischeviously to herself she munched on her treat as she went out to the garden to play.


	9. Slip of the Tongue

I've uploaded two new pictures of Ciel and Elizabeth on my Deviantart profile. If you love this pairing you should definately check it out.

http :/ kitsunegirl 21809. deviantart. com /# /d41 wbxb

http:/ kitsunegirl21809 .deviantart. com/ art/ Ciel-and-Elizabeth-part-2- 245533671

remove the spaces.

I have a few more I am currently working on and should be out soon. Hope you all like.

* * *

><p><strong>Slip Of The Tongue<strong>

Clarissa's knees wobbled as she braced herself against the sofa, her tiny hands clutching tight to the edge of the cushions. Her face held a mix of fear and determination as she stared at her father a few feet away. He sat on his knees, silently coaching her with his arms reaching out. She pushed away, took one step...

and fell.

"That's alright, sweetheart. Try again." Ciel said as he helped her to stand, then went back to his spot on the floor.

She tried again, and managed to make it three more steps before she fell.

Ciel helped her again.

"C'mon Lissa, baby. You can make it. Come to daddy."

She wobbled, then she walked.

Three steps.

Four.

Six.

Ciel was practically leaning towards her, a giant grin on his face, catching her when she finally came within reach. He was beside himself and she laughed at the expression on his face.

"That's my girl!" He praised.

He sat her down in his lap and ran a hand through her little blue-black curls. She gurgled as she played with the ruffles of her dress and he leaned back to watch her proudly.

He tried to teach her patty cake, and she eventually got the hang of it. However, Ciel being the ecstatic parent that he was, began to praise her loudly, which prompted her to laugh and eventually in her glee, reached up and pulled out a plug of her father's hair.

"Shit!" He cursed pulling away from her.

She lauged at his reaction, clapping her hands at him. He smiled as he rubbed the side of his head, where he was sure he now had a bald spot.

"Geez, Lissa. I know your having fun but you don't have to pull daddy's hair out." He said.

"I already get enough of that from your mother..." he smirked.

"Shit."

His eyes shot down to his daughter in horror.

"What did you say?" He asked fearfully.

"Hehehe, shit. Shit!" She laughed clapping her hands.

"No no no no. Don't say that!" He admonished shaking his hands. Elizabeth would certainly kill him if she found out their daughter's first word was a bad word.

"Ciel honey!" He heard her calling from down the hall and began to panic.

Lissa continued her little chant and he tried in vain to get her to stop.

"Shhshhshh. Clarissa, stop it now! Alright, alright we get it! Now quiet before..."

He buried his face in his hands and muttered a disjointed, "Oh damn."

He could hear her heels clapping outside the door and in a desperate attempt to silence the child, clapped his hands over her mouth. She stared at her father in annoyance and pressed a finger to his lips, shushing her silently, before removing his hand.

Elizabeth swept into the room, smiling brightly. "I'm home. Did she walk any?" She asked as he stood to greet her. She gasped.

"Ciel, your hair."

"What? Oh, yeah, well she sure takes after you Lizzy." He winked, pecking her cheek. She was about to say something but he swept out behind her.

"I'd love to chat hun but, uh...the...the...QUEEN! The queen has summoned me! I have to go. SEBASTIAN!" He cried running out of the room.

Elizabeth stared after him slightly confused then turned to pick up her daughter. "Does daddy seem a little jumpy today?" She asked her. Clarissa smiled.

Sebastian met Ciel at the door and watched confused as the man hurriedly shrugged into his jacket. He stared in particular at the small muss of his hair on one side. "My lord, what...?"

"We gotta go before..." Ciel tried to finish but down the hall came the unmistakeable shout of his daughter's voice. "SHIT!"

His face drained of all blood and Sebastian's eyes widened.

"Sir, you didn't..."

"CIEL!"

He quickly flung open the door, not waiting on his snickering butler for fear of facing his wife's wrath.

Elizabeth came storming in a few seconds later and glared at the still snickering butler. She glared and fisted his laples in her hands, pulling him down to eye level.

"Where is he?" She growled.

He turned his he and pointed out the door. She released him and flew out the door after him.

Sebastian sighed and followed after him, he was after all, obligated to protect him, even if the result of his trouble was because of his own stupidity.


	10. Affectionless

Something on alittle more realistic not I think. If they were to be married they probably wouldn't be this dark but I have to say I don't think Ciel would be all lovey dovey either.

**Newly added piece: **In _Admonition_ I made it as if Ciel and his old partner had been in a previous disagreement that promptly ended their friendship. I will let what happened between them be left to your imagination.

Summary: Loveless? I wouldn't say that, affectionless maybe. But loveless...no. From the life of Mr. and Mrs. Phantomhive.

* * *

><p><strong>Affectionless<strong>

* * *

><p><span>Weakness<span>

He was many things. Killer, planner, observer, nobleman. But he was also a man.

Most of the time, the wiles of women did not effect him. But all men have their moments and objects of weakness. That night was one such moment, and Ms. Middleford made a good object.

Matrimony

It was a union of mutual interest. It had been planned by their families for some time now and she wasn't exactly a bad match. From what he knew she was quite strong and able to withstand his way of life. It would make working together easier, and there were certain other benefits they could obtain by it.

Plus, she was carrying his child. It's what you're supposed to do in a situation like that, right?

Amusement

She thought it was funny to re-arrange the furniture. He thought it was funny to throw her hair ribbons away. She thought it was funny to take his right cufflink. He thought it was funny to hide her swords. Neither laughed too much.

Arrival

He remembered standing outside the bedroom door. The doctor had just left, telling him it was a boy on his way out. He held his hat in both hands as he listened to the soft sobbing noises and her tired voice singing what he would assume was some lullaby.

It would be another hour before he went in.

Hereditary

He was the mirror image of his father. Dark hair, slim build, blank expression. He stayed by his mother's side at all times in public, then retreated to his room when they were home. She taught him how to fence. He taught him how to shoot.

Elizabeth called him Will, Ciel called him William.

Preparation

He was sitting on their bed when she sauntered out, dressed in a scanty party gown. She was fixing her make-up in the reflection of her mirror as she told him she was going out for a bit and not to wait up.

"What's his name?"

She paused at the question and looked over at him. Slowly, she gave him a knowing smile and walked out the door.

Confrontation

This one was a little tougher than the last one. He had shot both shins and still it was trying to run. He calmly followed the blood trail into the alley, careful to avoid getting anything on his shoes. He stopped when he was a few feet away from where it was panting and shaking in a heap.

His mouth twitched a touch as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the gun. "I suggest you should learn whose wife you are sleeping with before you decide to take the adulterous route."

The eyes staring up at him bulged and blood smattered the ground as it manage to splutter, "B-but how- H-how did you find out-"

"Hm? Oh." He cocked the gun and aimed between the eyes. "She told me."

Resolution

She was waiting for him when he got home. The look in his eye when he glanced at her told her everything she needed to know.

She smiled the knowing smile again, because they both knew what they were doing. He never said he loved her, so she had found a creative way to have him express his adulation. In a few months when she needed to be reminded, she would find some other poor fool to pawn in their little game.

Reprimand

The air in the car was tense. She looked from Ciel staring out in front of the road to Will positioned symmetrically in the middle of the backseat. He was looking at his lap so she couldn't see the bloody lip and black eye that adorned his six-year old face.

"...Perhaps you would like to explain why you thought it was impervious to attack that boy?" Ciel's face remained expressionless, but his voice was colder and sharper than ice.

Their son didn't move at first, then held his head up. "He called you a psycho."

"Well, as rude as that was, I'm sure there was a better way to deal with that -"

"And Mother an Upperclass Whore."

There was a silence. Two pairs of eyes fixed onto the driver. He seemed unfazed by the stares as his mouth twitched slightly. He gave a slight glance to the backseat.

"...We should have Sebastian teach you to uppercut properly."

Elizabeth couldn't help but grin at her husband. William didn't share his mother's expression, but he did seem to perk slightly. She turned around, humming a lullaby to herself.

Admonition

It was a curious ordeal, walking onto his porch and finding one of his old partner coming up the walk. The normal cheshire smile the ageing chinese nobleman normally wore was gone, replaced with a look of determination and utter seriousness.

Ciel raised a brow. "I would say this was a pleasant surprise, Lau, but I can't imagine any other reason for you to want to see me except to kill me."

The Chinaman stopped at the bottom of the steps, looking him dead in the face. "I came to speak about your... Wife."

The brow quirked again. "What about her?"

"She's Dangerous." The tone was flat. "To everyone... especially you. What you two do... Is not right. You need to be careful with that one."

Ciel's lips pursed slightly. Was Lau trying to help him? After what had transpired between them last time? Perhaps he was doing it out of some sort of obligation for their old friendship? Or perhaps he was actually, in his aging and aggrieved state... being sincere?

How quaint.

He stepped down the porch steps. "Well, I am a little nonplussed by this, even from you and your sentimentality. But I have an inquiry-"

He stopped next to the large man's shoulder. He placed a hand onto the hilt of his pistol and glanced up. "Do you think many people would take relationship advice from a man who's been in love with his supposed _sister_ for years?"

Lau stiffened. Ciel sniffed and kept walking. "I thought not."

Intimacy

There were small moments, far and between, but they were there.

Like the night she awoke to find him standing above her. He had blood splattered over his jacket and vest, his hair was disheveled, and his gun was still smoking in his hand.

She blinked a few times, but didn't say a thing. He stayed silent too, blue eyes looking solemnly into green ones. Slowly, he set his gun on the nightstand. He removed his eyepatch and placed it next to it. He pulled off his jacket and unbuttoned his vest, slipped off his tie and loosened his shirt, all the while never taking his gaze off her. She watched him lie on the edge of the bed and rest his head on her chest. She shifted to accommodate him, a hand reaching up to stroke his head slowly. He didn't move, submitting to her gentle touch.

"Sing to me." He said quietly into her shoulder. Her thick voice sang the lullaby he recalled hearing the day their son was born. He closed his eyes and spent the night in peace that only these small moments brought.


	11. Song Drabble Challenge

_Ipod shuffle Challenge:_

_1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like._

_2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle._

_3. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!_

_4. Do ten of these, then post them._

**1. Secret- Maroon 5**

Ciel had always been used to being in control. Control of situations, control of his assignments, even a fair amount control of his business partners.

But now, he was starting to lose control of something that had never been and issue before, and it was all _her _fault.

The way she spoke to him in that patronizing way and secret smile caused his hands to twitch. The way her hip jutted out enough to support her gun as she worked caused his eyes to roam. The way she strutted by him so he would catch her spicy scent caused his mind to go places it shouldn't.

He was losing control of himself, and he didn't like it. What he liked even less was that he was starting to enjoy it.

**2. God's Gonna Cut You Down- Johnny Cash**

Ciel sat on his bed, holding the old copy of his families Bible in his lap. He flipped through the pages until it landed particularily on the Ten Commandments.

Thou Shalt not steal.

His eyebrows lowered.

Thou Shalt not Lie.

He swallowed the lump in his throat.

Thou not Covet.

He thought the way Elizabeth looked at him and the way he was beggining to look at her. He ran a hand through his hair.

Thou Shalt not Murder.

He shut the book with a snap.

**3. Hurt - Johnny Cash**

He stared blankly down at his hand, blood dripped like tiny rubies from his palm. He paid no heed to the pain and relished the fact that after all the things he'd done. After how far he'd fallen, that he was in fact still human. He could still feel pain. He could still hurt.

"My lord, your bleeding." Sebastian said taking his hand. He slapped it away. "Leave me." He spat.

Sebastian stared at him, then left.

After so long, after all that happened. Ciel was beggining to regret.

He thought of all those he'd loved who'd been lost to him.

His mother and Father.

Aunt Anne.

Elizabeth...

He wished he could go back. He wished he could start again. Do it all over.

He stared down at the blood that stained his hands.

It hurt him more to know that he couldn't.

**4. ACDC - Shook me all night long.**

She smiled seductively at him and shimmied her hims in that particular way that had him on his knees begging for more. She laughed at him and kissed him. He craved this. He loved this. He loved her.

She pushed him back to land on the mattress and she continued her assault. He smiled and flipped them but she giggled and evaded him causing him to kiss her cheek instead.

It was a game.

His favorite game.

**5. Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man.**

Elizabeth sighed and stared at her husband from across the dining room table. After five years of marriage and a beautiful little boy, he still felt like a stranger to her.

Though she tried she could never break that barrier that kept them apart.

He was always so distant and secretive.

And though she was heartbroken by this fact, Elizabeth loved him and set it in her heart to stand by him no matter what.

**6. Vince Gill - When I call your name.**

He opened the door to the fencing hall hoping to find her there but it was empty. He frowned. That's where she was everyday around this time. That's where he'd planned to find her when he came home from his latest case, but to his surprise, she wasn't there.

He closed the door.

He called for her.

No answer.

A hollow feeling constricted his chest.

He continued through the large house calling her. But still no answer.

He walked into their bedroom and found the note there on the bedside table.

She'd grown weary of living a lie, it said. She was gone.

He dropped on the bed and the note crumpled to the floor. He buried his hands in his hair.

He didn't care that the tears dripped over his cheeks. He didn't care if he looked weak or silly.

Already, he missed her.

**7. Pat Benetar - Love is a battlefield.**

Sometimes they argued.

Sometimes she won.

Sometimes he did.

Most though, neither did.

She wanted to go with him when he would go off on his crazy missions for the queen. She wanted to protect him, fight along side him. He didn't want her to. He wanted to protect her. He thought she was fragile.

She was not fragile.

She won.

He wanted her to leave when the war broke out, leave for the countryside, for the children's safety as well as her own. She battled, fought, cried. And in the end, conceded.

He won.

The time had come when he was to leave her once and for all. She would have none of it. But in the end, he fooled her. He told her he didn't love her. In hurtful retaliation she cried she hated him.

Sebastian took his payment the next day.

She died of a broken heart a year later.

Niether won.

**8. David allen coe- Jack daniels if you please.**

It was all black lace and sherry, back pats and tears, the only thing atypical about the funeral was a fortunate break in the rain and a lack of tiresome preaching. It seemed Mr. And Mrs. Costler were not of religious persuasion, for which Ciel was thankful.

Though he'd long ago stuffed any consideration of Hell into the same dark hole he'd stuffed his emotions, the words of a good preacher could still ignite a tiny, but persistent, spark of flame in him, something he usually had to drown with liquor later that evening.

Some people never drank alone, considered it a bad sign.

Ciel _only_ drank alone.

**9. I'm Not Bulletproof - Kerli**

He held her and she felt at ease. Her love soared. She was at peace.

...

Something wasn't right. She had awoken to find him gone. He stayed gone all day.

Elizabeth watched from her chair as he entered the foyer, bloodstained and solemn. Her hands clenched the arms then released. He lit a candle and jumped, drawing his gun. He exhaled and it lowered. She stood, walked towards him and sighed. Taking a kerchief from her skirt, she wiped away the smeared blood from his brow. He frowned and avoided her eyes.

...

He sat at breakfast the next morning, absently scraping his fork over his food. He had that blank expression he held so often. The one she could never break through. The one that said something heavy weighed on his mind.

He never told her what happened yesterday.

Why wouldn't he confide in her?

...

She put it behind her, but still... she began to doubt his love for her. Though she never could bring herself to leave him, she often wondered the same about him.

She bore her courage one day and confronted him in his office.

"I will always stay by your side." She told him.

"Keep your secrets if you must, but remember and be careful what you do..."

His eyes clouded with an annamed emotion.

"I'm not bulletproof."

**10. Shattered - Trading yesterday**

She lay on the cold cobblestone street in a puddle of her own blood. She'd insisted on coming and when he'd denied her, she snuck out and followed him.

The man they'd been chasing had turned to shoot and she jumped out at the last second. He stared for a moment unbelieving then dropped to his knees. Now he held her, shaking her.

"Elizabeth why! Why did you come? I told you to stay!" He cried.

Sebastian had gone, chasing the man. Leaving Ciel in his grief.

"Why, you stupid girl!" The tears gathered in his eyes.

She slowly opened her eyes and stared up at him. She swallowed and her breathing became ragged.

"Because, your always putting yourself in harm's way...Your always going off alone...b-but...your not...alone Ciel. You never were." She whispered as her hand raised to caress his cheek.

The dam broke and tears coarsed over his cheek.

She was shaking and pain enveloped her but she had to be strong.

"I...I..I lo...love...you...Ciel..." She stuttered, her breath constricting her speech. He felt his heart crack and stared at her in shock.

"What?" He asked disbelieving.

She smiled and pulled him down.

Her kiss was feathery light and warm while his own lips shivered with the cold of december.

Her hand brushed through his hair, brushing aside the patch and it fell to the ground.

When he pulled away to look at her, she smiled again and her head lolled back.

He panicked.

No!

He had lost so many.

He'd sacrificed so much.

He would not lose her!

He checked her pulse, it was there but faint.

"SEBASTIAN!"

"Yes my lord?" The dark butler asked behind him.

Ciel turned.

His eye glowed vibrantly.

"Save her! I don't care what you have to do! Do it! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Sebastian bowed, an evil grin gracing his lips.

"Yes, my lord."

...

She lay motionless in his bed, her body wrapped and healing, though slowly. A week passed and finally she opened her eyes. He had fallen asleep at her side and she smiled running a slender hand through his hair. He woke with a start and sighed in relief.

"Elizabeth." He whispered.

He didn't care what happened now. She'd been there for him for so long.

Now, he'd be there for her.

For better or worse.

Until death do they part.


	12. Chocolate Surprise

**You know, I've noticed some of my stories have been rather dark and depressing lately. Which is not good. So, I came up with this little... well I'm not too sure what to make of it but it made me laugh. I hope it makes you laugh too.**

* * *

><p><span>Chocolate Surprise<span>

* * *

><p>Elizabeth sighed in delight, the chocolate mix ran of the wooden spoon into her awaiting mouth. She hardly could resist not licking it clean. But after a long look from Sebastian about leaving her alone in the kitchen just to make mix brownies, Elizabeth wasn't going to push it. Placing the spoon into the bowl she got ready to work at the thick pudding like mix again. Puffing her cheeks out, straightening her apron, and pulling her long golden hair into a high wild ponytail she was ready to work. She knew that they would be delicious, or at least Ciel would be polite and not say otherwise…<p>

As she continued to her work, face dazzling while hidden in a mask of determination, she was oblivious to the person who had entered into the room behind her. The person who could hardly contain himself as he watched her sweet cherry lips rub the chocolate around, sighing from the taste.

Still he held back, and Elizabeth continued to work hard at it, occasionally dumping in huge cups of sugar. Though, he was sure that it wasn't called for in the book that she dutifully followed. Well, followed until it was so splattered she couldn't even read the page.

He watched her for long moments memorizing her every action, as he always did from the shadows, though now at his proper height it was easier to see her small quirks. The way she would open her mouth to talk to herself but then silence herself with an odd expression. Or when she would suddenly kiss the air. He enjoyed watching her much more then watching even his enemies squirm... or at least it was a close tie.

Suddenly she stopped, he froze. She couldn't see him like this, or she would ask a lot of questions which would be a pain to answer. He exaimed her as her fists clentched, as if ready to scream, her mouth wide ready to yell. But it faded and she returned to her work at a much slower pace then before. She glanced out into space lost in thought. Then what she whispered took him off gaurd.

"Ciel," She whispered to herself. It was a soft whisper, the same way he would say hers at night. The same hushed call. He knew it was to much for him to stay away now. Little did Elizabeth know what her words did to him.

Pulling off his blue necktie, he closed in on her, silent as always. He then grabbed her wrist causing her to drop the spoon and just before she twirled around he tied it around her eyes. Tying it tightly so that she wouldn't be able to wiggle it off, he leaned in. He smelled her warm Chocolate breath. Her cheeks were flushed. Her mouth was open ready to cry out, still he wouldn't allow that.

Leaning down, he sealed off her cries, she struggled for a moment before relaxing into his touch. Then silently she returned it. He knew she would recognize him. She would know that she wanted this.

Stringing his fingers through her gorgeous hair, he pulled out that annoying hair band that stood in his way. She reached up to touch his hands but he pushed them down shoving her harder against the counter letting her know he was in charge. Still it seemed hardly needed, she gave in gladly. A moan escaped her. He shivered.

Brushing the bowl aside he leaned her down and allowed him to taste her lips the warmed breath sending his mind in circles. He pulled away only to let her catch her breath.

Looking down he ran his finger along the side of the bowl and brought it to her tongue. She licked his finger questionably before a grin crossed her features. She sighed leaning in towards him. He watched as she ran her hand up his arm releasing his finger and wrapped a fragile arm around his neck and pressed her own lips clumsily on the side of his grinning mouth.

"Missed," he whispered it in her ear before guiding her lips to his. She allowed him to taste the sweet mixture that he had brought to her. He allowed her control, shocked at how good she seemed at this. He allowed himself to be simply a rider of her passions. Then as he heard the click of shoes heading this way he regrettably pulled from his love.

Elizabeth struggled to grab for him as he pulled out of her grip, Confusion spread across her features. "Wha," She asked still trying to find air for her to catch. "Where are you going?"

Placing one last kiss on her cheek he pulled away and left the room with a blush staining his cheeks as Sebastian grinned at him as he left.

Elizabeth collapsed to the floor, her mind spinning. She tried hard to guess who that was, it was easy to recognize the voice the touch. No matter how much she tried she couldn't stop thinking of Ciel, her Ciel.

"Elizabeth why are you on the floor." Elizabeth didn't need a dumb blindfold of the know the owner of the amused voice. Struggling she tried to untie hard knot that held her sight from her, but the knot was too tight for her to untie it. She heard Ciel walk over and gently take her hands from it prying.

"What are you doing in a blindfold?" He started to loosen it slowly then it pulled from her face. "It wouldn't help your cooking. You can't do it with sight, let alone attempt it without seeing it.…" Elizabeth turned to look at him. He was flushed for a second before he looked away from her glance. Returning slowly to his composure. Odd, Elizabeth thought. Before shaking away her silly theories.

"Ciel, did you...?"

Ciel smiled softly, "Elizabeth, your father wanted me to tell you that you're an hour late for dinner."

"What father?" She paused her mind struggling to locate what he was talking about. "Father, FATHER!" Elizabeth froze forgetting the fact he had avoided the question. Standing up she ran for the kitchen door and flun it open.

"I'll see you tomarrow Ciel!" She yelled after him slamming the door closed as she raced off to the stables. She wasn't sure but she thought she heard him whisper. "I love you Elizabeth," but then again that was silly. She must of just imagined it.

Sebastian glanced at him from the side and Ciel stared after her with a somewhat goofy grin. He suddenly turned to him and schooled his expression, a scowl replacing his smile. He flushed.

"Shut up."

Sebastian chuckled as the sixteen year old stormed out of the kitchen.


	13. Inner Demon

**Had a request for another Lizzy/Sebastian fic.**

* * *

><p><strong>Inner Demon<strong>

* * *

><p>She wants it angry.<p>

She wants it to be angry and harsh and _painful_. So painful that she can't think about anything else, not Ciel, not her mother, not fencing, not her friends, not heaven. Painful enough that she can't even think about the pleasure it gives her to see his face twist in a grimace when she digs her nails into his shoulders and slams him against the wall, (_pleasure pain pleasure… does he too get pleasure from the pain?) _or the thrill of satisfaction she gets when she sees the marks she creates, bright, hot red slashes against the tender skin of his throat and chest, splitting open to spill droplets of stolen blood.

She thinks that she's disappointed that she didn't wear her cross tonight. She wants to see the outline of it burned into his skin, run her tongue around the rough edges of it and hear him gasp and hiss at the pain, feel the breath he doesn't need escape his chest. For a moment she feels disgusted with herself, but then he grabs her waist and spins them around, slamming her back against the wall and kissing her with such ferocity that the back of her head hits the stone of the wall with a crack and she thinks _yes!_ This is what she wants, what she needs_._

She braces herself against the wall and wraps her legs around him, gasping at the feel of him inside her, hot like fire. The dirt and dust is gritty beneath her sweat-slicked palms and she tangles her fingers in his hair, smearing the black strands with it. "_Harder_," she gasps and when he complies her shoulders scrape against stone and the pain is so good that she doesn't even think about how that is the first word she's said to him tonight.

Her back arches and her bare breasts press against him and his blood smears across her skin. She knows he sees it when she feels his chest rumble in a growl and his head dips down to take one red stained nipple in his mouth. She clutches him to her and moans, arching further and tilting her head back so her hair falls away from her neck.

"_Bite me," _she says and writhes against him when he suddenly stops moving, tightens her legs on his hips to pull him further inside her. Her fingernails claw into his skin again and she watches him grimace even as he stares at her in shock (_pleasure pain pleasure… she knows its wrong to get pleasure from his pain_). "_Do it!" _she snaps and he grins. Her eyes close as his fangs pierce her skin, and her whole body suddenly feels _alive_, shuddering as her senses go haywire at the invasion.

Gone are all thoughts. There is nothing but the heat and the pleasure and the pain, nothing but the rough stone against her back and the smouldering body first pressing, then collapsing against hers.

Later, he watches her. They're lying on the ground, the worst of the cold blocked by the multitude of colored rugs below them, twisted and rumpled now. There is only an inch of space between them but he knows better than to touch her. He doesn't curl his hand around her shoulder, or skim his fingertips along the line of her thigh, doesn't bury his nose in her tangled hair. Any gentle touch from him would be immediately rebuffed, so he props his head up with one hand and watches her under heavy, sated eyelids.

The energy has left her now, the fierce, manic glint in her eyes is gone and she is motionless. Her eyes are fixed unblinkingly on the ceiling and the expression on her face is a blank one. Her skin is pale from blood loss and when she slides her hand from the wound on her neck to her stomach the movement is sluggish and awkward, as if she doesn't know how to move her own body. He thinks he prefers her like before, angry and wild and violent, to this. Now, he thinks as he takes in again the expression on her face, which hasn't shifted from the still, blank one she's worn since he rolled off of her, she looks dead.

Or that she wishes she was.

He leans over her. Her eyes are hazy and for a moment she continues to stare past him but then she blinks and her eyes widen as they focus on him, as if she had forgotten he was even there.

"Does it help at all?" he asks quietly, "Coming here? Escaping from the house and your friends, trying to forget who you are? Does being here make it better at all?"

She turns her head away, staring at the bookshelves across the room. She doesn't speak for a moment and the only sounds are her breaths, slow and even and uninterrupted by his.

He doesn't move away, but keeps staring at her face. Her make up is ruined, the eyeliner she has taken to wearing since she turned nineteen smeared below her eyes, making her look tired and worn. Her cheeks have hollowed out some and he wonders if she eats properly anymore.

"It's not something I can escape," she says suddenly. Her voice is quiet, her eyes still closed. "This…feeling. I can't leave it behind or forget about it." He watches as the corner of her lips pull down in an unconscious frown and a little line appears between her eyebrows. "It always hurts."

Taking a risk, he reaches out, tracing with his fingers the hollow of her throat, following her collarbone to her shoulder and then smoothing his palm down her arm in a light, comforting gesture. When she doesn't flinch away from his touch he bends closer and whispers.

"Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.

Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God,

And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,

Am not tormented with ten thousand hells

In being deprived of everlasting bliss?"

Her eyes open and finally, she looks at him, eyes flickering back and forth slightly under a furrowed brow. "What's that from?"

"A play called _Doctor Faustus_." His hands leave her arm to play with the tips of her hair. She'd cut it to spite him, he knows, but he loves the feel of the tips against his chest and stomach when she leans over him. "It's about a man who sells his soul so he could have a demon servant called Mephistopheles for twenty-four years." He smiled at the irony.

"Hmm." A small smile appears on her lips and her eyes slip from his to rest on his chest, tracing the scratches and dried blood there with her gaze. "Is that what you are?" She reaches up and touches his chest, fingers drawing patterns against the untouched skin in the center. They make a cross, but he doesn't say anything. "A demon here to tempt me into selling my soul and living an eternal life in hell?"

He looks at the dried blood on her neck and imagines it gone, sees the long line of her throat as she arches back, chest heaving, sweat pooling in the dip above her thin collarbone. _Bite me_, she says. _Do it!_

Her lips suck forth my soul: see, where it flies!-

Come, Helen, give me my soul again.

"Maybe I could ask the same thing about you." He murmurs and she laughs, pulling her hand away and sitting up. The laugh is choked and bitter and she looks away from him again, avoiding his eyes.

"Maybe you could." She says and starts looking for her clothes.


	14. Teeth

**I had this come to me as I was listening to Lady Gaga's Teeth. If you really wanna get into this story, listen to this song while you read. **

* * *

><p><strong>Teeth<strong>

* * *

><p>She had been out late shopping for Ciel's sixteenth birthday when she'd wandered down the dark ally way. It was where he'd ambushed her.<p>

He pinned her to the wall and though she screamed, he only covered her mouth. She reached into the folds of her skirst and with a hidden dagger had slashed his face. He slapped her and to her horror, fangs appeared in his smile. Those same fangs sunk into her throat.

The rest was hazy.

She remembered him pulling away.

Offering her salvation.

She accepted.

He bit his lip until blood poured and kissed her.

She felt the hunger consume her and kissed him back until he pulled harshly away.

She recalled falling, dropping to the ground and screaming as her body burned and her heart slowed until it stopped.

She remembered the strange new feelings.

She had stood and he told her what she was, offered her a life of love, lust, satisfaction.

He told her of her weaknesses as she played his game.

Then, when he though it safe, that she wanted him too, she plunged her blade into his heart.

"Sorry." She'd said as he lay dead at her feet. "I'm engaged."

* * *

><p>She'd been missing for two weeks when she suddenly showed up on his doorstep, looking as if she'd never left.<p>

He'd stared in astonishment as she sat in his office, calmly sipping tea.

"Where have you been! Your family has been worried sick! I... well...I..." He faultered and she smiled.

"Let's just say my eyes have been opened." She said standing.

She shashayed towards him, hips swinging and he gulped as he backed him against the wall. Her hands trailed over his chest and she kissed his neck as if she'd always been this way.

He pushed her away. "What's wrong with you!" He asked, flushing.

She smiled a sultry smile.

"Don't be scared." Her voice was thick.

He gulped as she pressed tighter against him. She dropped away her coat to reveal her apparal and he choked.

Red Corset.

Black Stockings.

Lacy Garter belt.

And her wrapped up like a personal present.

Her leg lifted to wrap around his thigh and she manuvered his hand so that it rested against his thigh.

Her hips ground into his and he sagged against the wall as a low moan escaped his lips. She sucked on his bottom lip and licked his chin.

She pulled away his jacket. Unbuttoned his shirt.

"Show me your teeth." She said. He looked at her confused. She nipped at his skin as she chuckled.

Her fangs grazed his skin. Her nails clawed his back. He screamed and she smiled licking her fingers.

He twisted, pinning her against the wall instead and ravished her lips, pressing tight against her.

Her fingers dug into his scalp.

"Elizabeth." He breathed harshly in her ear and she smiled.

"Ciel."

He pulled back to look at her.

She laughed and it rumbled through him.

She pushed him back, straddling him as he landed in a heap on the plush carpeted floor.

Her hips moved in rythym and his hands dug into her thighs. Her hands braced against his chest and she dipped, rubbing her breast against him. She licked his ear.

He spiraled higher.

She licked his neck, sunk her fangs into the soft flesh. He gasped.

She pulled away, licked her lips.

He exploded.

She chuckled.

He breathed heavily.

"Show me your teeth." He breathed.

She smiled at him, sweeping his patch off.

"Show me your mark." She whispered.

His eyes shown up at her.

Her fangs glistened with his blood.

"It seems were both damned my love." She whispered licking his lips in a sultry kiss.

He tasted his blood. Kissed her back.

"As it would seem."


	15. Come Back To Me

**I don't remember, but I don't think I've written a fic where Ciel ultimately ends up dying because of Sebastian taking his soul. So this is the outcome of this, or rather Lizzy's reaction if that were to happen.**

* * *

><p><strong>Come Back To Me<strong>

* * *

><p>The sun shown dimly through the cracks of the heavy, dark curtains that covered the windows of her room, reflecting on the small dust particles that floated in the air. It created an eerie, lonely affect, and the room seemed as if it had been abandoned for years. She lay in a half conscious state, her eyes dim, staring blankly in front of her. Her long blonde hair splayed out around her tangled and shining dimly from the glossy rays. She wore nothing but her sleeveless chemise which had drawn up, barely covering her hips. The sheets of the bed lay heaped upon the floor while a large standing mirror reflected her mournful gaze. She stared into her reflection, watching, waiting, but for what? She barely recognized the woman that stared back. Her face was drawn, weary. Her hair, pale as her skin had become. It seemed she would shrink into the shadows, disappearing into nothing if it weren't for the minimum light which illuminated her shoulders, neck and legs. She appeared ghost-like, unearthly.<p>

What had brought her to such a pitiful state. For a moment, she forgot.

But then, the truth came crashing back into her mind like a fierce storm.

They had married five years ago on her sometime after she'd turned nineteen. They lived happily for so long. Yes, it had been awkward and rocky at first, but of course what arranged marriage wasn't? But time passed, and with that came respect, which grew into compassion and finally, with the realization of her fist pregnancy, love.

She'd lost the baby. A boy. He'd been born too early and was so small. She remembered that day. He'd sat beside her on the bed, holding her close as she rocked the little infant. His breathing was shallow, and she'd sung to him, hoping to ease his pain and hers. Benjamin. That's what she'd called him.

She kissed his head and he shuddered then slowly, became still. She screamed and fought as the doctors pried the child from her and in the end, Ciel had been there to help her through. She'd clung to him as if she were dying. But he was there.

The pain of her loss faded and as the years passed, she began to move on. And all the while, he was right there beside her.

What happened?

When she woke days before she was settled safely in his arms without a care in the world. He'd acted strangely that day. He took all care avoiding the strange butler he'd brought back with him so long ago and devoted himself entirely to her. He lavished her with loving words and warm embraces. He took her to the finest restraunt in all of London and after that he took her to the theater.

That night, he'd loved her like she'd never known before. And as they lay in the afterglow of their lovemaking, he brushed the stray strands away from her brow and whispered sweetly, "I love you."

The next day, he was gone.

His only excuse, a letter beside her bed with only two words that shattered her very soul.

I'm sorry.

She thought they were happy. So why? Why had he gone again?

Was it her? Had she done something to upset him? Or could it be...

She gently rubbed her tightening abdomen. She'd been planning to tell him today, the day of their anniversary. Now what? She knew she wouldn't find him, even if she tried. The manor was empty, save for the servants. But after no result from trying to pry her out of her depressed state, they simply let her alone, staring at her with pitying expressions. The tears rolled freely now and she gently wrapped her arms around her thinning frame.

She stared longingly into the mirror. The very one where he inspected his appearance every morning, she almost expected him to appear. The glass wavered and her eyes widened. There he was smiling, pulling his necktie tight about his neck and brushing his hands over his deep navy coat. She gasped and raised up, stumbling from the bed and towards the dusty mirror. He turned and smiled at her, reaching out to her. She reached too, her grin broadening. He glowed with an unearthly light and finally she touched his face.

But her hand kept going, passing through to touch the cold surface of the mirror. He faded before her eyes and she stared shocked at her own reflection. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she dropped to her knees, bowing her head. Her elbow hit a vase as she fell and it crashed to the floor. She sobbed, letting out all the anguish and hurt that clouded her heart.

"I love you..." Came her hoarse whisper.

She faintly heard footsteps running in the hall before the door slammed open and Maylene ran in. "M'Lady!" Maylene ran to her side and placed cool hands on her shoulders.

"Come back..." Came her broken reply.

The maid stared at her in confusion, before a sad, knowing look covered her eyes. She bent down to one knee and hugged her mistress, hoping to offer some comfort. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bard and Finny in the doorway, watching with sad, distant expressions.

"Come back to me..." Elizabeth cried, her hands clawing at the surface of the mirror. "Ciel, please..."

Mayelene cried with her and felt the girl's shoulders shake. "My lady, he's not coming back."

The words seemed to break what was left of her and had it not been for Maylene holding her, she would have collapsed. She stopped suddenly, her tears dried, her whimpers silenced. She only stared blankly into the mirror.

"He's not coming back..." She echoed the maid's words and they sounded hollow to the occupants of the room.

"Yes, my lady." Maylene whispered, her arms tightening around her frame.

Elizabeth sat still for several minutes and the sevants began to grow worried. Finally, she spoke.

"Then, what else is there to live for?...Why am I here?" They stared at her in shocked silence before Maylene reached down and placed firm hands on her belly. She squeezed gently.

"We live, so that we may give life, my lady...What's left of the master, remains within you, Lady Elizabeth."

Elizabeth's gaze slowly traced down to her belly and her own hands covered the maid's trembling fingers.

"It was his last gift to you, would you waste it so?" She asked.

Elizabeth's grasp tightened and she shook her head.

"No."

"Then you must get up, and you must move on. For your child's sake, if nothing else. He would want that."

Maylene turned to Bard and Finny. "Help her."

They helped her stand, but she was weak from exaustion and the gently tucked her into bed. When she had been suitably attended, Maylene met Tanaka in the kitchen.

"She's balancing on the edge. It's our job to pull her back."

Tanaka agreed.

...

"Will you be alright, my lady?" Finny asked her.

Elizabeth smiled at him and took his hand. "Yes, thank you Finny...I don't have time to grieve, I let too much go already. I won't think about him now," she said. "I think about him tomarrow."

...

Her son was born nine months to the day, and she smiled to see he was the perfect reflection of his father. His last gift to her.

She named him William Ciel Phantomhive.

...

Epilogue

Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Phantomhive never remarried and lived the next 52 years taking care of the phantomhive esated as the Lady of the manor until her son came of age. She ultimately ended her days surrounded by a large, loving family. But throughout her years she could never fully let go of her true love.

At the old age of 82, Elizabeth went to bed and dreamed of Ciel. He took her in his arms and kissed her sweetly. "I missed you." He'd said.

William found his mother cold that morning with a smile on her face.

She was burried in the garden under a weeping willow next to her loving husband.


	16. Ridiculous

**Just fun.**

* * *

><p><strong>Ridiculous<strong>

* * *

><p>The sound of giggles was heard as an explosion of tomato sauce spread across her lips. As the Elizabeth looked up, there was a look on the Earl that she just wanted to slug off his face... Yet, she loved the gleam in his eyes as he gazed upon her.<p>

Out of pride, a soft glare was given towards Ciel, hoping that it would melt him to smithereens.

"You look ridiculous..." he said through a lazy smile.

"Not as bad as you," she said through a mess of sauce as she indicated his mildly dirtied shirt and fingers.

More laughter left the youth, and she couldn't help but feel more annoyed. Nobility must always have table manners and never, absolutely NEVER get into food fights. … right? Right?

Table manners were crucial for court life, and Elizabeth still had much to learn, yet no matter how hard she tried to improve, Ciel would always seem to best her every time. He wasn't even of royal heritage! What was worse, he was the one who asked her for the private dinner date. And it was on her birthday.

On the other side of the table, Ciel scooped up a few strands of untouched noodles and gestured them to Elizabeth.

"My Lady, forgive me..." The noodles flew through the air and landed lopsided in her hair.

Part of her annoyance died down as she felt herself smiling a little. But she was still partly angry at him. As she played around with an olive in the small soup bowl, with an unexpected strength and work of physics, the olive flew across the table and struck Ciel right between his eyes. She didn't mean to do it, she didn't even knew her own strength! Or did she wanted to do it subconsciously? The look on his face sent her into a fit of giggles and she had to hold her stomach for the pain that stitched her side.

"That... that could have killed me!"

Here was a man, who faced blades of swords, dodged bullets and was placed under life threatening situations... Yet with the touch of an olive, he was frightened. It could be a come back when he mocked her with the spaghetti. Maybe he deserved it.

"I... I am not sorry for that!"

A bout of victory beamed across her face. She got her pride back! He teased her twice with the incident with the sauce and what he did with his pasta. Her olive bullet was only one single deed. An action most worthwhile to see the look on his face.

There was silence, and Elizabeth turned to glance at her significant other.

He grinned.

"You know of course... This means _war._"

Before either really knew what was going on, food was flying across the table in a plethura of sauce, noodles, soup and bread. Elizabeth stood from her seat, laughing hysterically and scooping a handfull of sauce, coated his face with it. His hand automatically smooshed his potatoes over her ear and down her neck.

She collapsed laughing against him and he laughed with her, dropping back into his seat.

By the time it was over, the room was a mess and they were both worse for wear. But that didn't matter. He smiled at her and wiped some sauce off her bottom lip before licking it from his finger.

She smiled and kissed his nose leaving a red smear. Then giggled at the absurdity of it.

Curiouser, and curiouser, the night got as she was with him. Everything was so... unexpected when she was around him. Yet it was one of the reasons why she chose him to be her life partner.

He kissed her brow and a genuine smile was there.

"Now who looks ridiculous?" She asked him.

"We both do, I expect."

"Better to look ridiculous together than alone..." She smiled.

He leaned back grinning. Then picked up his wine and poured it over her head.

"No, now you look more ridiculous."


	17. Guilt

**Set immediately after Chapter 7, Elaborate Charades. I suggest before reading this portion, you go back and scan through that particular chapter or else this will probably make little sense to you. **

* * *

><p><strong>Guilt<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Set Post Elaborate Charades<em>

It was later on that evening, when all the guests had left and the excitement of the night had dwindled down to nothing that he went in search of her. He found her, sitting in an abandoned stairway, seemingly stairing into nothing; straight ahead and unblinking. She heard him approach but didn't dare move or make a sound. She chose to wait for his reaction instead.

His hand braced on the post beside him and he sighed. It wasn't an angry sigh, it was a disappointed sigh, tinged with regret. Or... was it sadness? She wasn't sure.

She would have perferred the angry sigh. The one that didn't make her heart shatter into a million pieces at the sound of it.

Elizabeth turned her head and glanced at him, then quickly averted her eyes. He held a blank look as he watched her.

"You saw?" Her voice was hoarse and grated against the back of her throat telling him that she'd been crying.

Ciel stared at her, and even though a burning rage seethed inside him, he felt that probably this whole incident was his own fault, and that it was best to hear her out. They weren't married yet...wouldn't be for at least another year. He would hear her decision.

"How long has this been going on?" He countered her question with one of his own. She seemed to deflate as she ran fingers through her hair. "A month." A pause. Then...

"It's over now, it's done with." She said. It was true enough. After every encounter they had, she would feel the overwhelming pressure of guilt descend upon her and she would break it off. Send him away angrily until she broke down, crawling back for more when her affections weren't returned or she felt shunned by the world.

Ciel turned away and she stood suddenly fearful of what he would do.

"Ciel, I'm sorry! I... I..." She stopped when he turned to look at her. Really what could she say? It was because of him that she did this. But it was also her own fault. She didn't put enough faith in him, didn't try hard enough. Maybe she simply gave up? But the oppourtunity had presented itself and without thinking she jumped right in. Heedless of the consequences which now presented themselves.

She couldn't look him in the eye and it saddened him. Over the years, she had latched onto his heart with a vice grip and didn't let go. A big place had been rooted in spot, slowly breaking his sheilds away and just when he though he might let go and fully love her, he remembered his past. There was always that little voice in the back of his mind. Cautioning him not to get too close, not to love too much. She could be snatched away from him too.

He feared that if he let go, and loved her, she would go away like all the others. And he feared this time, it would break him. So he put up his walls, shut her out like so many and admired from afar.

Now, he bore the consequences of his actions like always. With a hard heart and stone walls. But the walls cracked now, as he saw her. The heart broke and the will diminished. He hated himself, he hated what he did to her.

But she felt the same, only the opposite. She hated herself for what she did to him.

"Why?" He asked her.

She stared at him, her resolve breaking with her heart. She was hurting him and she was hurting herself.

"It was a moment of weakness. A moment that grew into more than it should have... You don't love me...he doesn't either, but...he, gives me attention at least."

She couldn't look him in the eye and her words became desperate, pleading for him to understand.

"He was there...and I felt so alone...you didn't return my feelings so I...I had no choice..."

"You chose not to tell me...how you felt." He said meeting her eyes.

Her lip qwivered and she swallowed the lump that was steadily growing in her throat.

"I couldn't...It was not your burden to bear." She could see the raw hurt in his expression even in the dim light of the corridor. He stepped closer to her.

"But I did bear it didn't I? I just didn't know what it was..." He swallowed thickly. "I thought..."

She stared at him surprised. "You thought I loved him." She felt she couldn't bear it anymore, this pain she'd placed on him with the realization that he actually felt something for her. She went to turn away, but he caught her shoulders suddenly with a vice grip and for a moment she was afraid he would hurt her. But he only slowly backed her against the post, his eyes boring into hers.

"If you make all the choices in life...how can I trust you?" He asked.

She stared at him and a tear fell over her cheek as she whispered brokenly...

"You can't."

She broke away from him, flying up the stairs leaving him staring solemnly at the post. His hand curled into a fist as he berated himself for his own stupidity.


	18. Our Little Secret

**So I was re-reading through the manga today, specifically the chapter where they board the ship to the latest chapter and I had noticed when I first read it that it sounded like a knock-off of titanic with the only exception being the flesh eating zombies and hardly any romance. So, I thought back to a few scenes in the film Titanic that I though maybe should have been in the manga. I especially loved this scene in Titanic so I put it in Ciel and Elizabeth's perspective. Please keep in mind that this takes place during the manga a few hours before Ciel and Sebastian leave to infiltrate the Pheonix society. **

* * *

><p><strong>Our Little Secret<strong>

* * *

><p>They had been on the ship for two days and already, Elizabeth was feeling a little bored. Though the trip seemed exciting at first, she suddenly found herself swept away in the grandeur of first class tea time's and lavish parties that seemed so subdued to her eyes. She rarely saw Ciel; only during meals and the occasional walk up on deck. Most of the time she was accompanied by her brother or the ever strictful eyes of her mother, watching for even the slightest mistake to reprimand her for.<p>

It was on the third day, however that she found her escape. There was to be a grand party that night in honor of the ship's maiden voyage to America. She spent the morning under her mother's watchful eye as always however when the chime of the clock hit Five O'clock, the Marchioness was called to business elsewhere and Elizabeth was left to her own affairs. Naturally, she sought out to find Ciel.

As she wandered along the corridors she came across two ushers trying to stop a pair of 3rd class passengers from sneaking into the first class dining hall. One man, a tall brute with a bristling beard, grumbled as he left, dragging his friend behind him with a friendly clap on the back at their dismissal.

"Ah, who needs these stuck up snobs anyway, eh Joe? ere's better ta drink down in lower class an'a way, wha' with that big party they're t'rowin down 'ere. Don'tcha think?" He slurred in drunken Irish.

Joe, who was a scrawny man with a thin nose and large ears, nodded at him, pressing the tip of his index finger on his nose pressing it up so that he resembled a pig.

"Yeah, buncha bloody pigs if ya ask me! These upper class snot's don' know how ta party lak we do!"

Elizabeth watched somewhat amused as they staggered, laughing down the stairs, chaperoned by the ever watchful eye of the usher.

She wondered just what it would be like to attend a 3rd class party. From the way the two men described it, it sounded as if it would be a lot more fun than the social parties of 1st class. Rounding the corner, she grinned mischievously to herself.

Ciel was always going off on these crazy adventures without her, and so she imagined that he should go on a least one adventure with his fiancé. And why not? If she was to live in his dangerous life in the future, should she not have a few adventures for herself?

And so with a smile, she hurried in her footsteps to find Ciel.

. : . : . : . : .

She found him, not surprisingly, chatting in a corner with Sebastian. He was isolating himself again, and she sighed. Sometimes he could be so...no, she wouldn't think that. She had put it in her mind to make him smile again and she would stick to it. He was just making it...difficult.

She put on her brightest smile and swept through the crowd towards them. Sebastian saw her first and he quickly straightened and smiled a welcoming smile. Ciel seemed confused by his actions until she spoke his name and he turned questioningly towards her. She smiled, linking arms with him and suppressed a giggle as he blushed lightly. She spotted Snake by the buffet, good, now she only needed to get rid of the other one.

"Lizzy?" He was probably wondering why she hadn't said anything yet, so she turned to him, her eyes bright and innocent like a child's. "Oh, Ciel! I have something important I must speak with you about!" She said beginning to pull him along. He paused and went to motion for Sebastian to follow but she turned and whispered playfully in his ear... "It's a secret!"

He narrowed his eyes in question but otherwise signaled the butler to stay as she led him out of the dance hall and into the foyer. They stood in the shadow of the grand staircase, so as not to be easily seen and she turned eagerly to him.

"Ciel, you'd do anything for me right?" She asked sweetly.

The question seemed to catch him off guard and he hesitated. Just as her smile began to drop, he quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes?" He'd said it slow and drawn out, as if he wasn't sure himself but she put that aside to ponder later.

"Good, because there's something I've always wanted to do..." She left it hanging with that waiting to see his reaction. He said nothing only motioned for her to continue.

"But, you have to promise it will be our little secret!" This issued forth a furrowed brown and disapproving frown from him. She almost panicked.

"Lizzy, what are you up to?"

Elizabeth hesitated, afraid that he would deny her and leave her standing in the shadow of the staircase. However, something deep inside her urged her forward and she glanced around quickly, making sure they weren't being watched. She caught a glimpse of Sebastian watching curiously from the dance hall and she grabbed his sleeve, pulling him along. She had managed to drag in out of the foyer and into a secluded side room when he yanked his arm free, somewhat annoyed at her behavior.

"Lizzy, _what is it_?" She could tell he was getting frustrated so in an attempt not to drive him further into anger, she blurted her request out, leaving him stunned.

"Iwanttogotoa3rdclassparty!"

Slowly, his expression dissolved from anger, to confused, then to shock. A thin, black brow arched and he leaned back, crossing his arms.

Elizabeth sighed.

"I want to go to a 3rd class party."

"Absolutely not!"

She stared at him shocked even as he met her gaze with an unwavering look of resolution.

"Why?"

"Lizzy, a lady like you has no business down there with those..."

"Those what, Ciel? People?"

She was getting angry. How dare he? They were not married yet, he could not order her around, nor could he stop her. She had wanted to go with him. She had wanted for them to have fun. Well, she could play this to her advantage.

Ciel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Lizzy..."

"Fine!"

He looked up to find her stalking down the hall away from him.

"Where are you going?" He smiled, despite himself at her stubbornness.

"To the party. The _3rd class _party." She smirked as she heard him run after her, but that smirk fell away as he grabbed her wrist to twist her harshly around.

"No you're not!"

She jerked away from him and his brows shot up in shock. "We're not married yet Ciel! You'd do well to remember that. I can go where I please and there's not a thing you can do to stop me." She gave a dramatic sigh. "I had hoped though that you'd go with me. It'd be more fun and I'd have some protection should something go wrong..."

"This is exactly why you shouldn't go! Lizzy you can't..."

She turned an icy stare on him.

"You do it all the time!"

That had silenced him. He stared at her grimly and for a moment, she feared she might have gone too far. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair in a quick, jerky motion.

"Fine." He let his eyes roam over her attire as she squealed and enveloped him in a hug.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he pushed her away silencing her with a sharp stare. "Thirty minutes, that's it! Then it's back upstairs. We don't need Aunt Francis hunting us down, or it will be the death of me." He glanced over his shoulder, then back to her.

"But you can't go dressed like that."

. : . : . : . : .

Ciel sighed as he peaked around the corner of the hall, keeping a wary eye out for Sebastian who, no doubt was beginning to grow anxious and would start looking for them. If he caught them, he'd never hear the end of it. He scratched at the collar of his shirt. It was old and itchy, and smelled of coal. He'd managed to snatch some clothes for them to disguise themselves out of an unsuspecting laundry room and though they had been cleaned, they still smelled of lower class civilians.

"Lizzy, hurry!" He whispered harshly.

She was in the closet behind him changing and just as he was about to turn and impatiently knock on the door, he felt her tap on his shoulder. He turned and his eyes widened.

Elizabeth picked at the edges of the worn skirt and twirled with a smile. "Well, how do I look?"

He smiled. It was strange not seeing her in frills and ribbons. In only a vest, shirt and skirt she looked the very image of a lower class girl. But her hair, usually in long, curling pigtails, fell in loose waves down her shoulders, with two strands pulled around her head and tied to for a type of halo around the top. She looked, dare he say it...cute. Her green eyes sparkled in happiness as she giggled at his reaction. He blushed and turned away. "It'll do."

Linking arms, she swept him down the hall and through the crowded doorway of the lower deck. The music was loud, louder than she'd ever heard before. And it was exciting, she felt her heart pounding in her hears and she couldn't help the smile that poured on her face. She practically dragged Ciel to the bottom of the stairs and stared in amazement at the people surrounding her. People clapped vigorously along with the music as various men and women danced in the center of the room under the dull lights which were hazy with the smoky haze which hung in the air. Men sat at tables scattered around the room, drinking and playing games. Everyone was either laughing or smiling and the entire atmosphere screamed with a welcoming atmosphere.

She glanced at Ciel, and she could tell he was uncomfortable. She laughed and pulled on his hands. "Well, don't just stand there! Come on!"

He let her pull him deeper into the crowd until they came upon the dance floor where couples spun quickly to the upbeat tune of an Irish jig. Suddenly, he stopped. "Lizzy wait! I can't..."

She turned to him confused and he lowered his gaze.

"I can't dance..." He mumbled and she had to strain to hear him. "That's ok, I'll show you!" She pulled but he didn't move. She seemed to pout as she turned to glance at the dancers.

"Well lookey 'ere lads! We've got ourselves a right lovely bonnie lass on our hands!" Bellowed a booming voice behind her. She turned to glance at the brawny Irish man who stood behind her with a group of smiling men. Though their smiles were threatening or mean, they were very warm actually. The large man, with bulging muscles and a long red beard stepped up bowing to her sweetly. His hair was thinning around the top of his head, but as it fell, it thickened like his beard. He smiled at her. "Name's Séamus, might you honor this old fool with a dance with a pretty lassie?" Elizabeth blushed prettily while the man's friends laughed at him from behind. "Oh give it up Séamus, she'll never dance wi' an ol' codger like you!"

"Nonsense! The lass obviously want's to dance, ah can see it in er eye ah can!" He yelled over his shoulder. She glanced at Ciel who was glaring at the man and smiled. "Of course I will, sir!" She said curtseying.

Ciel and the men stared in shock before the man who had jeered before slapped his thigh with a laugh. "Well I'll be damned! Séamus got im'self a girl!"

Ciel grumbled as Elizabeth allowed the burly man to sweep her into a fast paced jig on the floor wishing he weren't such a fool when it came to dancing. Elizabeth laughed happily as the man spun her in a circle then, in a bold move, picked her up to throw her slightly in the air like a father would with a small child. She screamed in delight and Ciel smiled despite himself.

. : . : . : .

Sebastian pulled at his pocket watch and frowned. They'd been gone for far too long and already, he could see the Marchioness' harsh glare directed at him from across the room. If he didn't find them soon, there would be a terrible scandal on their hands and the Phantomhive's weren't good with scandal.

He sighed in frustration and summoned Snake to his side.

"Send your friends out, search everywhere. We have to find them soon, before the Marchioness loses her temper and finds them before us!"

Snake nodded and Sebastian turned, leaving the dance hall.

. : . : . : .

Elizabeth had ended the dance with her new friend fairly soon, to Ciel's relief. Now, they gathered around Séamus's table while he and his three friends, Conor, Donal, and Liam. Conor was the youngest at 23 and the main joker of the group. With dark red hair and a broad grin, Elizabeth thought him very handsome but his attitude annoyed her somewhat. He was never really serious about anything. Donal and Liam were brothers she learned, though no one had to tell her for it was written plainly in their features. Both had brown hair, both had blue eyes and both had a slight build with crooked grins. Séamus though, she liked most, he reminded her faintly of her father.

Currently, Séamus' right arm was locked with Donal's in a fierce wrestling match that bore down on the old table, causing it to groan with the weight. Donal smiled a cocky grin though sweat beaded on his brow while a thick vein bulged above Séamus' right eye. Elizabeth cheered them on gaily and even Ciel was betting on Séamus.

A woman emerged from the crowd setting a few pints of beer on the table, smiling warmly at them. Conor grinned and passed one to Ciel and Elizabeth. "Ere had a drink a'fore lass?" Elizabeth eyed the concoction warily and glanced at Ciel who was shaking his head at her though his mouth held a little quirk in the corner.

Séamus broke his stare with Donal to glance at her. "I woul'na lass. Don't think ya could take it."

Elizabeth's brow lowered and she turned the glass up to Ciel's and everyone else's shock. She'd managed to drink over a quarter of the glass before she pulled it away, a noticeable rosy tinge on her cheeks as she smiled at them.

"What? You think a first class girl can't drink?" She laughed. Ciel's eyes widened and she clamped her mouth shut. "No, I don't, but we now a 3rd class girl sure as hell can right boys!" Ciel said clapping her on the shoulder.

The men put the comment she'd said past and laughed as Ciel sighed and smiled at her. Donal, noticing Séamus was distracted, quickly slammed his arm so that it hit the table with a bang. Lizzy jumped and Séamus stood hollering, "Two outta tree, two outta tree!" Elizabeth laughed but stopped as she heard Ciel laughing beside her. Then her smile grew wider than it had all night and Conor grinned.

"Oi there lad..." He said elbowing Ciel in the arm and pointing at Elizabeth who had turned to watch Séamus and Donal. "I tink she like's ya!"

Ciel blushed and muttered a quick, "shut up."

Elizabeth turned as she heard shouts and banging and saw a couple of men fighting behind Ciel.

"Oi break it up!" Liam yelled.

One man pushed the other into Ciel causing him to fall into her, sending his beer all down the front of her shirt. He turned glaring at the man and pushed him away. "Get outta here!"

He turned back to Elizabeth worried only to find her laughing. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and pointed behind him where the men were clapping each other on the back, their fight resolved quickly enough.

A fast paced tune picked up and Elizabeth grinned, feeling confident. She linked arms with Ciel and intended to drag him out onto the dance floor but he pulled away quickly. "Lizzy, no I..."

She pouted.

Séamus' brow lowered and he placed a large hand over Ciel's back, pushing him forwards so that he stumbled into her. "Ah, go on lad! Dance wi' tha girl!"

Elizabeth caught him with a smile and at the shouted goading of the other men, Ciel smiled and held out his hand to her.

She laughed and pulled him behind her in the midst of the dancers. He hesitated as she clasped hands and attempted to drag him into the fast pace. "Wait, Lizzy, I don't know the steps!"

"Neither do I, just go with it!" She laughed.

He grimaced.

He stared at her nervously. "I can't do this."

She smiled and took his hand, placing it on her waist and with his other hand, pulled him close. "Do you trust me?"

He met her gaze uncertainly, then slowly nodded. "Of course."

"Then let go. Let go Ciel." His heart skipped at her words and he stared at her deeply for a second wondering if she knew more than she let on. She smiled. "Don't think."

They began to move, slow, then fast. Stepping in time with the tune of the music. Despite himself, Ciel found himself laughing alongside her when he missed a step or when she stepped on his toes.

Donal laughed as he watched them. "Ah, she's a cutie 'at one. Reminds me 'o my little sister."

Séamus sighed and leaned back, stroking his beard. "Ah, if only I were young again."

"You still wouldn't have a chance!" Conor joked.

Séamus glared at him. "Oi, she danced wi' me didn't she?"

"I mean you'd 'av ta fight 'im for tha chance!" Conor said pointing to Ciel who twirled Elizabeth then brought her close again.

Séamus sighed. "Ah, yeah. Tis a shame. Young luv, tha lad needs ta loosen up though..."

He smirked suddenly and sat up to shout at one of the men playing in the band.

"Oi, Jack! Play a slow'un for ta luver's!"

Jack nodded and signaled to the other members. Elizabeth and Ciel blushed as they heard him and as the music slowed, Ciel went to pull away from her but she held him steadfast.

"Ciel, please?" She smiled timidly.

He slowly brought his hand up and together they danced.

Elizabeth smiled up at him and against his will, he found himself smiling back, although it was slight. He felt for the first time in a long time, comfortable. There was no revenge at the forefront of his mind, no work, no worry about appearance. No need to worry about Sebastian.

His mind skidded to a halt. Sebastian! How long had they been down there? He stopped her and she frowned at him. "Ciel what's wrong?"

He spotted a clock on the far wall, and choked. It read 7:30, they had been there for little over three hours. He quickly grabbed her wrist pulling her quickly through the crowd. "We have to leave, we've been here far too long!"

"How long?" She asked as he pulled her up the stairs.

"Three hours." She gasped and ran long behind him. They quickly ran to the closet where they stashed their clothes, changing quickly (though an embarrassing situation presented itself when Elizabeth couldn't but the back of her dress alone) and carefully sneaking though the halls. They made it to the second floor with no problem and made a mad dash for the next staircase when Ciel suddenly stopped dead at the sight of Sebastian's back ahead of them. He shushed her and gently nudged her backwards but he saw the butler begin to turn and rushed around the corner quickly.

They rushed down the hall, aware of faint footfalls behind them through the thick crowd insured their easy camouflage. She ran ahead of him now and just as she burst through a door, she spotted Snake ahead of them talking with a pair of passengers, no doubt asking if they'd seen them. Ciel rushed past her but she pulled his arm quickly. "Wait, wait, wait!"

She managed to pull his back through the door unseen and down a different hall as Snake turned his head and ran after them. Running down a flight of stairs they intercepted a man about to board a elevator, quickly rushing the poor bell hop to close the doors and take them down. They saw their two pursuer's feet just as the elevator slipped below sight and burst into a fit of laughter.

Sebastian huffed as Snake met him at the elevator. "Did you...?" They both started. Sebastian glanced down at the elevator, spotting a tuft of blonde hair through the crack.

"Down!" He said.

As the elevator stopped they ran from it, down the hall and into a small side hallway before they stopped, panting and smiling at one-another. "This is the most fun...I've had...in years." Elizabeth panted as she laughed.

Ciel leaned back against the wall to catch his breath and grinned. "Me too."

Suddenly, they were small children again playing hide and seek with Madame red in the garden. All the troubles in the world didn't exist in that moment. It was only them. Like it used to be.

"Those are some...servants you have Ciel..." Elizabeth smiled.

He smirked. "You have no idea."

Through the small circular window, he saw Snake fly down the stairs.

"Aww, shit!" He cursed.

"Go!" She half screamed, half laughed as they raced down the corridor once more. Elizabeth screamed as they met a dead end and he pulled her back into a side room. "No, this way!"

"Quick!" She laughed.

They ducked down and he held her close to stifle her giggles. Through the small port window they saw Sebastian peek inside before quickly moving on. They waited a beat then left the room swiftly.

They found a stairway and raced up two flights of stairs before stopping before the doors of the dance hall, gasping for breath and laughing hysterically. Elizabeth leaned on his shoulder for support and he rested an arm around her to keep them both from falling as his other hand braced against the wall.

Suddenly, she hugged him and all laughter as well as breathing stopped from him.

He glanced down and risked moving his arm around her shoulders tighter. "Thank you Ciel." She whispered. He hugged her back then let out a quick sigh. "Sure."

She pulled away and stood on her tip toes, pecking him sweetly on the cheek then giggled as he blushed ten shades of red.

She took his hand and led him back into the dance hall.

. : . : . : .

Sebastian and Snake, having nowhere else to search and exhausted from running up and down the ship, returned to the dance hall. To his utter annoyance, Sebastian spotted Ciel and Elizabeth off to the side, enjoying a slice of cake like innocent little children.

As he approached, Elizabeth tapped Ciel's shoulder and pointed at him. Ciel turned and grinned that wicked little grin which purposely said he'd done something but was going to deny it till the day he died.

"And where did you run off to?" He asked and Ciel smirked, taking a bite of his cake. "I could ask you the same thing, we returned shortly after to find you _and _Snake gone, and missing for several hours too!"

Elizabeth giggled and he smiled at her.

Sebastian's look of playful reproach melted into that of utter annoyance. "Forgive me." He said.

Ciel ignored him and set his half-empty plate on the table beside him. He held out a hand towards Elizabeth who took it with a secretive smile. "My Lady, would you kindly join me in a dance?"

"Of course, sir." She said before they walked out onto the floor.

It was then, Sebastian watched with astonished eyes, that Ciel and Elizabeth danced almost perfectly, without flaw.

Elizabeth smiled at him and he smiled at her. She maneuvered their hands that were clasped so that their pinkies intertwined and a single thought seemed to echoe between them...

_Our little secret._


	19. A Moment Of Peace

**Just something that came to mind while listening to Cesare and Lucrezia's Theme from the Borgias soundtrack. **

* * *

><p><strong>A Moment Of Peace<strong>

* * *

><p>The night is cold, even though the winter snows have not yet blanketed the ground. In the hearth of the fireplace, a warm fire burns slow and bright, crackling and popping; the only sounds that issue forth in the surrounding darkness. The heavy down comforter along with her warm, bare flesh pressed into his side help to fend off the biting chill and he welcomes it. The fire lights up the room, making shadows dance over the walls and floorboards. He hates the dark. Always, he feels consumed by its overwhelming presence and automatically the arm holding her close around her shoulders tightens and pulls her closer. She mumbles in her sleep but otherwise does not stir. She is the light that saves him from the smothering darkness that threatens to consume him.<p>

Ciel sighs and long fingers run through his messy hair. He knows sleep will not come tonight, not for a while at least. _That_ day is coming soon. The day she insists on celebrating for him yet inside, he wants nothing to do with it. He wants to shut it away in the little box inside his mind, where he stores all the bad memories. But she doesn't know and he can't bear to bring himself to tell her. So, like every year, he'll let her fuss over him and throw a party, shower him with affection saying how glad she is that he was born, because that's what you're supposed to say on someone's birthday right? But then later, he'll lock himself behind closed doors, burying himself in work and business to fend off the encroaching memories that threaten to consume him. She'll worry no doubt, and she fuss over him some more.

Almost unconsciously, his head dips to kiss the top of her golden curls. She's good to him, better than anyone has ever been to him and he loves her for it. Yet, he restrains himself from showing her too much compassion, because he knows he'll have to leave her someday and it will hurt less if he does; or so he believes. But then, his eyes graze down to her exposed belly beneath the sheets. It's round and swollen but not overly large. His gaze warms and his hand presses into the soft flesh. Inside, he feels the small lump move and beat subtly against his fingers. The action makes his heart swell. Ciel releases the pressure of his fingers and now lays them gently over the spot, rubbing gently over the spot as if to calm the child within.

When she first told him, he had kissed her cheek and told her how happy he was. But when she'd gone, he'd shut himself away. Fear trickled up his spine, boiled in his stomach until he thought he would be sick. What would happen to them when he'd gone? When his revenge was fulfilled and his contract complete? Would he still be here when his child was grown? Would he even get to see it born? These fears nagged at his conscious, haunting his every move since he'd found out.

He once voiced his concerns on how he might not be a good father to Elizabeth. She'd only smiled and kissed his forehead tenderly. "If your half the father yours was, then you'll be just fine. And knowing you Ciel, and your need to outdo people, you'll be great."

Her words calmed the torrent of emotions churning in his chest, and set him at ease. But now, staring down at her and her growing belly, he's not so sure anymore.

What if he somehow did survive long enough to see the child grown, would he or she hate him? What if he didn't, would they feel remorse for never knowing their father? Or would Elizabeth move on, find their child a new father who would shower them with affection?

These thoughts make him ill and he exhales loudly, rocking his head back to beat lightly on the headboard. Elizabeth sighs and mumbles something; shocking him and making him turn to look at her.

"Ciel darling, if you don't tell me what's wrong, I'm afraid I'll have to smother you will my pillow."

He chuckles lightly and runs fingers through her long hair, pulling it loose from its braid. She looks up at him and her green eyes glow in the firelight, though they are dull and weary from sleep.

"It's nothing, just thinking." He says.

Her brows furrow and she moves so that she's lying on his chest, her chin propped lightly on his collar bone as her hands play with his sides. "Hmm, you must be thinking about a great something if it's keeping you up this late." She purrs, a smile itching at the corners of her pretty mouth. He suddenly feels the urge to kiss her. She sighs into his kiss and her eyes flutter shut.

When he pulls away, he avoids her gaze and she drops her head back to his chest.

"Ok, so it's a guessing game hmm? Well, let's play." She whispers, pressing her ear to his heart. Its beat is slow, rhythmic almost succeeding in lulling her to sleep again but she fights it.

"Lizzy…" He begins to protest but she looks at him with that familiar gleam of determination in her gaze as she presses a slim finger to his lips.

Her finger taps softly against his lips as she ponders, her brows squinting and lips pursed in thought.

"Hmm, now, if I know you Ciel, I should certainly hope I do…then I should say the only things that would keep you up like this would be your worrying yourself over something." He smiles at her, slightly afraid by how she knows him so well.

"Now, I'd say your either worrying about work, the Queen, or the baby." His smile fades and she grins.

"We can rule out work, because you have no major cases and there's nothing wrong with the factory that you most certainly can't handle…I can also rule out the Queen, because she hasn't sent you a message needing your assistance in several weeks…So, there's only one possibility left, although I have to wonder why, when I had thought I'd already assured you on this problem months ago…"

He frowns and she removes her finger to place her palm against his cheek. It's warm and his own hand comes up to encompass it.

"It's scary how you know me so well." He says.

"Well, I have known you for the majority of my life, darling."

He exhales slowly, blowing warm breath into her face making her bangs brush slightly to the side. "I know."

"What's wrong Ciel?" She asks him and he's silent, because he knows he can't tell her the truth. So, like several times before and several times again, he lies.

"Just the same problem, love —" He whispers.

Now it's her turn to sigh, because, even though she trusts him, she knows he's hiding something from her.

"And why is that?" She asks.

"Not enough experience with fathers I suppose." She's silent at that, and saddened from the expression he gives.

"It's not about experience." She smiles. "It's about the effort you give, the love you show. But, if you're really worried about experience, Ciel, I can tell you from my own that you'll be the perfect father, just from the way you're the perfect husband." She says, kissing him.

He scoffs.

She hits his shoulder.

"It's true!"

He only quirks a small grin in the corner of his mouth and pulls her close. She shivers, pulling the blankets over them where they had slipped down.

"You'll see." She whispers.

But she is answered only with grim silence.

"How do you know?" He says after a while, but she is already asleep again.

He sighs and nestles down into the covers next to her. Her head lies in the crook of his arm, which is bent to form a pillow for her while his other rests over her side, holding her close. For a moment, he just stares at her, and to him, she is beautiful. For a moment, he never wants this to end. He wants to stay, nestled beside her forever. Her belly presses into his and he feels their child stir inside. Instinctively, his hand presses over the little lump to calm it. It works and he feels it push into his palm as if to get closer to him. Finally, his mind grows blank and he immerses himself in the moment; the feeling of his family around him. He forgets what it was that kept him from sleep to begin with and slowly succumbs to sleep.


	20. Fight

**Yes, my lovely fans, I'm not dead. I've just been on a severe case of writer's block but after watching the series True Blood, I had this little idea after watching Jessica a Hoyt fight over eggs. Just seemed like it would be rather cute to see Ciel and Lizzy do if they were married.**

**A little AU short.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Fight<strong>

* * *

><p>He sighed as he stepped into their small, downtown apartment, lips trembling with the cold air that seemed to seep into his bones from the chilly November wind. She was laying reclined on the couch watching some romantic drama, twirling her golden locks loosely around her fingers when she turned to him. "Hey!" She smiled. "How was work?"<p>

For a moment, he wanted to storm right back out into the cold if it meant being away from her cheery attitude after the shitty day he'd had but he only frown and unzipped his jacket, throwing it over the back of the kitchen chair. "Ten hours of laying hot mixed asphalt next to a lake full of mosquitos…" He paused to glance at her but she'd turned back to the TV. "How do you think it was?" He growled throwing his keys on the counter. "I'm starving."

Elizabeth heard him walk into the kitchen and went back to twirling her hair. "There's some pizza left over from Monday in the fridge, I think." She called behind her, eyes never leaving the screen. Ciel turned to look back at her, irritated and jerked the fridge open. A barren wasteland met his gaze save for the pack of cokes, a carton of eggs and a white pizza box. Ciel sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty bangs. "Uh, you remember I eat right? Like food!" He snapped pulling the carton of eggs from the fridge. "It'd be nice to have some in the house."

"And you remember that I babysit the neighbor's kids half the day too, right!" She snapped back over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at his attitude.

"Uh, you come home by eight. I mean it doesn't seem too much to ask for a scrambled egg once in a while." He said holding up the carton as she flipped her legs over the couch leg and onto the floor so she was fully facing him. He sighed and turned to walk back into the kitchen. Elizabeth huffed and flipped the TV off as she stormed after him. "Do you have any idea how much I have to do each day with those two? I'm tired by the time I get home…" She said.

"And I'm not? I don't get the luxury of sitting around during naptime princess." He snapped. "I mean honestly, how hard is it to just crack one into the pan." His hands played out the scene as he said it which only made her more frustrated with his belittling attitude. She crossed her arms over her pink, plaid blouse and cocked a slim brow at him.

Her lip stuck out in that fashion that told him she was about to go off and he sighed bracing himself for the 'you have no idea what I go through each day speech.' But she surprised him as she stormed forwards jerking the carton out of his hands. "Fine! You want an egg?" She ripped the pan of the wall, slamming it on the stove with a force that rattled the glasses in the cabinet. She glared at him as she picked the eggs one by one out of the carton and smashing them into the skillet. "I'll cook you a dozen…" splat, "fucking…" crack, "eggs!"

He stared at her like she was crazy. "What the hell are you doing?"

When the carton was empty she threw it behind her then turned to smile forcebly at him. "I'm _cooking_ for you! Just like your auntie!" She grabbed a wisk from the drawer next to her and plunged it into the mess on the stove. Ciel growled raising an arm to point to her. "Look don't bring her into this, she's got nothing to do with it!" He yelled.

"Yeah and if she had it her way, I'd be on the street and she'd be making your delicious _fucking eggs!" _She yelled back slamming the whisk in the sink then turning to grab a plate. She wiped the egg yolk off her blouse and held back tears of frustration as he stared at her incredulously. "You know what? I'm not asking you for the _moon_ Lizzy!"

She hissed as her fingers brushed the hot skillet and she shook her hand as she turned to him. "You like em runny?"

His arms rose in an 'I don't care' fashion and she wanted to slap that smug smirk off his face. "I don't give a damn, I'm starving."

She slammed the plate down on the counter. "Good! Because _God forbid I overcook it_!" She screamed pouring the undercooked mess onto the plate, careless whether some slashed onto the floor or her dark denim jeans. Ciel smiled sarcastically as he sat at the table and she pushed the plate in front of him along with a spoon for him to eat it. "There! You happy?"

He shoveled the mess into his mouth just to spite her even as the disgusting shells and yolk threatened to make him sick.

"How's it taste?" She asked, arms crossed.

"Hmm, delicious!" He snapped successfully hiding his disgust and slapped his hand on the table. "Gosh, you know what it tastes just fucking scrumptious!"

Elizabeth stood there seething but the sight of him with egg in his hair and running down his chin made her suddenly laugh weakly and try to pull the plate away from him. "Quit it!" He snapped and she laughed even more. "No stop! Just stop, you'll make yourself sick." He ignored her and she pulled the plate away. "Ciel!"

He growled. "There's nothing funny about…" He saw her laughing and almost against his will her began to chuckle at his own expense. "about your disgusting…" He spit some of the yolk from his mouth into a napkin. "sorry ass cooking!"

They continued to laugh at each other then at the stupid thing they were fighting about. Finally she retrieved a wet rag from the kitchen and wiped the mess from her arms before handing it to him. He smiled at her gratefully.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"No, no, I…" He began but she cut him off. "It's hard for us both right now. But, we'll get through this. I'll try to have something for you when you get home and you'll try to be less grouchy, right?"

He smiled and nodded before pulling her down into his lap and kissing her neck. "Just, not eggs. I think you've cured me of my want for them for a while." He said into her shoulder and she laughed kissing his head. "C'mon, let's get cleaned up and we'll go out tonight." She said. He smiled and let her up and for a moment he forgot what it was they were fighting about to begin with.


	21. Drabbles  LizzySebastian

**Drabbles - Lizzy/Sebastian**

* * *

><p><strong>Motion.<strong>

He's still stuck in a clouded haze of pain, but it's her startling sincere kindness that catches him off track, her curious movements as she works almost dream like to help heal his wounds, her soft motions making him lose track from the times when he is awake and when he is asleep.

**Cool.**

His hands are cool against her skin, sparking a tremble along her spine as his hand, with a gentle smooth touch, caresses along her back, circling each vertebra.

**Young.**

It's a dull thought, but raises his curiosity nonetheless; if they ever did move away from the 'just friends' they are now, and say they did pursue their relationship to the point of him being a father, and pretend that their first child happened to be a little boy, would the boy look like a young version of him, or a combination of them both?

**Last.**

She was not the first woman he had ever bed, she was not the first woman he ever cared about, she was not the first person he had ever loved; but he prayed to the gods that she was the last, because it would be impossible to find someone as amazing as her.

**Wrong.**

He is not a good person, she doesn't need other people telling her that, she already knows this; but it's that longing, tortured look he gives her, the way he pleads with her, that makes her wish she could take back everything he did wrong.

**Gentle.**

He's surprisingly gentle, it makes her wish this could last forever; but that only reminds her that it probably won't, so she jumps into the moment while it's still there.

**One.**

Despite all of this, in the darkest hour, he really wanted to be her only one.

**Thousand.**

When he tells her his age, it's not the fact that he's thousands of years old that makes her worry; it's the idea that he has that much more experience than she does.

**King.**

She tries it as an experiment, that when she's on the verge of screaming his name into oblivion before they hit their climax, she decides to instead scream 'King Sebastian'; which was how she discovered how secretly he coveted that title when he bites a smile onto her shoulder while in blind pleasure.

**Blur.**

Everyone else just faded into the background after he noticed her, becoming nothing but meaningless blurs compared to her picturesque clarity.

**Wait.**

He can't take it any longer, can't wait any longer; and before he even realizes what he's doing, his lips are already crashing onto hers.

**Change.**

She swore she would never change for anyone, but he made her promise.

**Command.**

It's almost like they've been tricking fate and its command by denying the pure electric circuit running solemnly between them; but once they have finally come together, nothing has felt more right than laying naked and bare next to each other.

**Hold.**

Her soft hand carefully takes hold as her fingers intertwine with his own, testing boundaries at making such a public gesture in front of everyone, but instead of pulling away all he can do is smile at her.

**Need.**

It's only when he's alone that he begins to realize how much he needs her.

**Vision.**

Mother Nature ought to be given more credit and appreciated more often, because his own imagination didn't give the completely beautiful creature before him much dignity to how he thought she looked underneath her clothes, but now he knows better as his vision fills with her form.

**Attention.**

She's beginning to realize how much she goes out of her way to get his attention, and how often he seems to give it to her.

**Soul.**

Hers is the most beautiful he's seen in centuries. Bright and vivacious. Dark and smoldering. A jewel in its own right, and were he any less a demon he would have devoured it long ago… so why did he shudder at the thought of her losing it now?

**Picture.**

For some reason he doesn't show up on camera, but he does show up in mirrors, and this is why all of the recent pictures she's been taking have been from the mirrors angle; because she wants proof that he exists.

**Fool.**

He hates himself when it finally dawns on him that love has turned him into a fool; but then she kisses him and he finds that he's quite okay with it.

**Mad.**

Yes, it makes her mad when Ciel gets all hissy when he finally finds out that she and Sebastian are together; but then she remembers that she and Sebastian are together, and makes her feel ready to take down the world.

**Child.**

He doesn't tell her anything when she asks him about why he keeps staring at her belly, even though it has her worrying about her weight no matter how many times he tells her it has nothing to do with that; he's just honestly scared to admit that when he laid his head against her and curled his limbs around her, he heard a tiny heartbeat similar to one of a child.

**Now.**

It's a full year until she asks him, curiosity mixing with her words, but it's not a question, it's a statement; "Now what do we do," "Coexist?" he doesn't think he could put into words how happy he is simply coexisting with her.

**Shadow.**

She used to find it creepy when he followed her like her own shadow, but it's become oddly comforting.

**Goodbye.**

He's ripped from her arms and she never had a chance to say goodbye; and it tears her apart at night when she lays alone in her bed without his arms to hold her as she cries.

**Hide.**

He's so close to breaking that it scares her, "Sebastian, you don't have to hide from me anymore," And then he doesn't.

**Fortune.**

She doesn't really understand how it turns her on a little while watching him crack open a fortune cookie, nor does she want to think about it.

**Safe.**

Its only when she's there with him that he can feel anything slightly similar to being safe.

**Ghost.**

It's watching horror movies that make him silently pray that when, and if, she ever dies, she becomes a ghost so he can still be with her.

**Book.**

He needs to find better hiding places for those books on Demonology or else he will never hear the end of it.

**Never.**

She said she'd never let him go, and she never did.

**Sing.**

She'll never have the voice of her favorite musicians, she knows this; but it doesn't stop her from breaking out into song and singing to him when he won't get up in the morning.

**Sudden.**

She told him to kiss her, but it still surprises her when he suddenly does.

**Stop.**

She wants him to never stop being alive, because it makes her sad when she thinks about a time when he might not be alive anymore.

**Time.**

In the afterglow of love, what once was so terrifying, it seems all they both want to do is lay there tangled in each other, content; feeling like they have all the time in the world.

**Wash.**

She doesn't like to wash her clothes anymore, not when they smell of him.

**Torn.**

He's torn between his destiny and 'coexisting' with her, even though he knows which one will win in the end; he's scared that his destiny doesn't have her in it.

**Power.**

It sometimes scares her, seeing how powerful he is; but then she sees the playful look of concentration on his face, and she can't help but smile when he realizes it's the same expression he has when he's got her legs spread and is about to pleasure her in the most scream worthy way.

**Master.**

He's really tired of his master walking in on them while they're kissing, when her hand is only now beginning to sneak lower; so when his dark headed master walks in on them yet again, he slams her into the wall regardless and continues to passionately yield his mouth to her, smiling when he hears the door shut.

**Demon.**

Its official, he's a demon, and a demon of mischief at that; which he has proven again and again and again.

**Naked.**

She has never really been comfortable about being naked in front of a guy before, but with him it's different, because even when she's standing plain in the nude as embarrassed as could be; he's still staring at her face as their eyes meet and he silently waits for her to give permission for him to look at her, and it warms her, so when she finally gets over herself and does let him look, it's one of the moments in her life where she has never felt so beautiful.

**Harm.**

He would never purposely harm her, but it's hard to explain that to her when she's livid and miserable because of him; which proves to him that words are just words, and he has to show it to her even if right now she's willing to kill him, so through her nails and her teeth and her screams of profanity he holds her, until her body almost goes completely limp, all except for the battling sobs that shake him to his core.

**Precious.**

She is always with him, so close to him, practically a part of him, a part of him that he doesn't know if he could live without; and then there's this baby girl, so new to the world, so innocent and unknowing of pain, this precious proof of them laying in her arms, and he can't think of a moment where he's ever felt so loved.

**Hunger.**

He's always wanted her in one way or another, yet he's always been able to have some sort of control; but ever since she decided to get closer, to break all rules of should and shouldn't, he can't starve off his hunger in front of people much longer, he won't be able to stop himself when the days comes and he pulls her to him and outright consumes her in public view.

**Believe.**

"I believe in you, whether or not you do the right thing," I know those words aren't much, but from the look he's giving me now, I feel like I have given him the strength to do what must be done; and it's never made me feel as sad as I am right now, knowing that this means he might die, but it has to be worth it, I don't want to lose him like this if it isn't.


	22. Run Away With Me

**I had so much fun writing this and love the idea. It is Au, but not by much. Ciel's parents are still alive and there is no Sebastian. Ciel and Lizzy are not betrothed. In fact, in my fic, it is quite like modern day and considered to be taboo. Side not: I was heavily inspired by the last episode of season two of The Borgias.**

**Title: **Run Away With Me

**Author:** Kitsune21809

**Rating: **M

**Summary:** AU, two cousins seek to find solace within eachother in a world that tries to snuff them out. In this fic, Elizabeth is a Phantomhive instead of Middleford/Midford.

* * *

><p>Daily, he drowns in her. In her secret smiles and in her laugh, in the spun gold of her silken hair. She is his salvation, all that remains of his purity kept safe in a beaded bodice, woven beneath her skin like silk.<p>

Her very heart beats within his chest and after today's end, it is all but screaming to be returned to its keeper.

Ever obedient, for her, for only her, finds himself flying through the streets of England with his latest victim's blood still slick over his knuckles, still soaked into the edge of his sleeve.

Never would he place another's happiness above his sweet cousin's, never would he feel a bond like theirs again. And with time, her mother, father and cousin would crush her innocence. She would tolerate her family's tendencies, but inside, it would tear away at the very thing he loved most about her. She'd been bleeding internally for months, since her mother announced her betrothal to Charles Grey; Ciel couldn't bear to see such anguish crease her brow once more. If she had broken under the stress piled atop her by both her mother and society by their cruel judgement, he would have chased her into madness, and Hell too if she would fall so far.

Only when he reaches the closed door of her bedchamber do his feet allow him rest. He stands hunched to catch his breath, one hand steadied against the sanded wood. The blood has grown tacky in the rush of wind. It sticks his fingers together, terrified to be forgotten so quickly. But Ciel does not forget. He will never forget that these hands have silenced a young life forever, that he has committed murder and condemned his soul this night. Nor will he ever find it in himself to regret the deed. Elizabeth, England, Europe, the whole of the world will be richer for his death.

At her bedside, he watches her in the weak light the moon provides for a short while, drinking in the calm that is her presence. She sleeps soundly, turned onto one side, shift tucked up her thighs, the bedclothes twisted in her legs; a sleeping angel.

"Elizabeth," Ciel whispers when he is overwhelmed by the urge to touch her. Crouched, he smoothes the hair from her forehead to press his lips there. At that tiny disturbance alone, his wife wakes all at once, and had Ciel been any other man, his throat might be cut through and pouring scarlet down the front of his shirt. But Ciel is not any man, he is the rightful leader of the Phantomhives', whether his father sees it or not, and thus, he laughs.

"Lizzy," he muses into Elizabeth's ear, trapping her against his chest, his hand wrapped tight around hers where it holds a dagger, hidden before now underneath her pillow. "Were you expecting company?" How long has she slept with this weapon? Why did she find it necessary to lie above sharpened steel? Gone was the girl he had chased through the courtyard to bump noses with. Life's cruelties have hardened her into the woman he sees this day, without her blushing naivety, with vigor and determination aplenty, no longer willing to stand meekly by, a pawn in her family's game.

Elizabeth drops the knife at the sound of his voice and, when freed, turns quickly in his hold. Her arms wind instantly around his neck, tied tight like a ribbon. "Ciel!"

"Yes, my love." Face buried in his collar, he is glad she cannot see his crescent smile, dangerous, revealing too many teeth. The rush of cutting down his enemy coupled with the way Elizabeth's eyelashes brush the skin of his throat leave Ciel feeling something more than human; a god, dare he think it.

They stay quiet, melded together for a few minutes while Elizabeth's pulse slows from its former tremble. With Ciel at her side, fear slips through her fingers like sand.

No matter how pleasant being held may be, her mounting curiosity splits them apart. "What are you doing here?" she asks with soft, open eyes, drawing away from the warmth of his chest to search his face. But it is not his face that holds her answers. When he says nothing, she lifts one of his hands to place a beseeching kiss at the center of his palm, only to be met with the strong scent of copper and the color of rust.

The first thing Elizabeth does, because she is a Phantomhive and was bred, cursed, to spill blood, is kiss Ciel's palm as planned. She licks after the taste on her lips, and then gives him her attention once more, probing him with her stare. He feels naked under the weight of it, her silent, "who?" an unexpected pain in his chest.

They keep no secrets, if asked, he would give her the world.

"Charles Grey," he says without delay or dramatics, his face a careful mask with careful eyes that watch her for some reaction. She gives nothing at first, simply looks and looks and looks at him, her lips parted in obvious surprise. It's terrifying, waiting for her response. She shares his hatred of her errant fiance, of course, but wishing him dead is one thing and discovering just who had put him to that fate is another entirely. It would be well within her rights to run screaming from the room.

His slack grip on her waist cinches tighter, possessive and scared, both. But Elizabeth does not bubble into hysterics or bolt from his lap. She doesn't condemn him for the murder of her intended. She doesn't even let a shade of fear or remorse cross her features.

Swallowing a knot, Elizabeth blinks owlishly at Ciel for another moment, and then her whole face lights up with a smile, his smile, the one she flashes when they are alone and there is no one near to question the sharp edge to it. "You didn't!" she whispers conspiratorially, kissing his palm again, his knuckles too, tasting the last of her late fiance's life, and he can't help but feel giddy at the way her tongue peeks out to dab greedily at the space between his finger. It's sick, they both are, wrought with the same disease.

It is this disease, this darkness that flows through their veins, that laces them together, that has Ciel staring at her mouth when she straightens to read the affirmation in his eyes. There is redness smeared at the meeting of her lips. It taunts him, and were Ciel any man tonight, he would feel shame for coveting the drop of blood and a kiss, but tonight Ciel Phantomhive is not a man. Tonight, he is a god. And because he is a god, after nodding absently that what he's said holds true, he closes the waning space between their faces without a hint of self-abhorrence.

He does not kiss Elizabeth, but it is a near thing. They brush noses, forehead to forehead, close enough that Ciel can count the flecks of silver in his cousin's eyes and feel the sweet puffs of her breath against his chin. They've been here a hundred times, right at the brink of something unforgivable. His purity is in shreds, but Elizabeth's, she can yet be saved. It is the only reason he has not breached the fingerbreadth between them thus far, never would he gamble her eternal soul.

She had kissed him once, a chaste gift when overwhelmed by gratitude, nothing more than an ecstatic peck on the mouth, but even that had teased to life the forbidden ache in his groin.

"Ciel." His name, a heady sigh on her lips vibrates right through him, settles into the very marrow of his bones and sets fire to his failing restraint. Her fingers twist into the dark strands at the nape of his neck and he says nothing, stares resolutely into the crystalline color of her eyes, watches the blacks of her pupils eat at the edges until there is but a sliver of green remaining.

What happens next is a cosmic event. A black hole, like an aperture, opens up right in the middle of Elizabeth Phantomhive's bedroom and swallows both she and her cousin where they sit. What had been always split by a fraying thread of air is melded together so completely, neither Ciel nor Elizabeth will ever, ever again be able to pick out splinters of the other from where it's been burrowed beneath their skins.

He doesn't know who first falls prey to this weaving of their souls, but the next moment Elizabeth's lips are connected to his like he has stolen her lungs. She breathes through his kiss, fevered from the very start. A greedy clash of mouths, they share the lingering taste of their cousin Juan, feed on the victory of his death. Her fingers, loose before, coil into his hair as she re-seats herself in her cousin's lap.

This had been inevitable. Deep down, Ciel knew they would disappear into one another completely one day, but that foresight does nothing to dull the feel of Elizabeth's petal-pink tongue when it slips over his bottom lip in invitation. She is his sun. He has revolved around her since the day his aunt had first placed her in his arms, and like the sun, she burns. Her breasts, full and heaving against the thin material of her chemise, brand the front of his chest. The inside of her mouth is scalding when it slides open for his exploration.

'I would gladly die for this,' he thinks absently, all hope of abstaining from the flesh of his cousin gone. Even the Earl's death seems a distant dream in the face of this mortal sin, mere rehearsal for the final damning of his soul.

It is easy to lay Elizabeth out over the bedclothes, even easier to cover her body with his own. He fits into her every hollow, a perfect pairing, and when her lips settle over the jut of his adam's apple, Ciel does nothing to conceal a low groan.

"Let me see you, Lizzy," he breathes into her ear, his voice want-roughened and strung tight as she discovers the smooth curve of his lower back, leaving light scratches in crosses over his spine. Legs hooked over his hips, he finds the hem of her gown and draws it up her thighs in silent question.

Elizabeth is quick to answer, arching away from the bed, up into the warmth of her cousin's chest. He has her bare a moment later.

She cranes for a kiss then, but Ciel denies her, straightening up to kneel between her knees and drink in the sight of his cousin laid out beneath him in sheets of silk. It is every dream he's ever woken from and better. The light sets her porcelain skin a radiant silver. Her hair is a wild, mocking halo around her face and her curves, slight only years before, are begging for his hands.

The irony of their position is not lost on him. He kneels before her as a holy man would kneel at an alter. She is his faith, his light, everything that God would never to be.

She does not squirm under the weight of his reverence, but meets his gaze directly with flushed cheeks and lips swollen from his kisses.

As quickly as he is able, Ciel divests himself then of every last piece of clothing, sheds each article like a viper would its skin. And only when he is dressed in the crisp light of the moon alone, does he fold down to blanket his cousin once more. Elizabeth takes in his hard lines as he had her curves and when they slide together without barriers, a broken moan leaves both their lips.

Marking up the side of her throat with wet kisses, Ciel's hand drifts down to the apex of his sweet cousin's legs, to a place he has held silent claim all these years. He finds her shamelessly ready for him, wetness coating the insides of her thighs, which part like the seas for his probing fingers.

"Lizzy," he sighs against her temple, damp with sweat, and pushes inside, pumping her into a slow burning madness. She clutches at the backside of his ribs and whimpers into his shoulder, teeth dragging restlessly along the thick curve of muscle. "Please," she's whining, and he knows it isn't to be brought into ecstasy, not yet. She wants to unravel him, wants to unravel them both, until they are nothing at all. And though this would be their end, the end of the old Elizabeth and her fiercely protective Ciel, he can deny her nothing.

Fingers gone, hands now gentle guides for her hips, he lines up their bodies until they are slotted in parallel and, though it is difficult to lift his eyelids, finds her eyes. Elizabeth peers up at her cousin through golden lashes and curves one palm around his stubbled cheek.

Ciel joins them still lost in her gaze, their faces wrinkling in twin pleasure. Her body accepts him slowly, gives way inch by inch until he is fully-seated within her, touching from foreheads to thighs. She engulfs him in every sense, all-consuming. He thinks he might even be able to feel his soul sinking in through her pores, taken, freely given. But before he can be sure, Elizabeth is shifting under his weight, her nails biting into his arms. She wants him to move. Ciel thinks he might shatter, held together only by her huffs of breath, but still he obeys.

He draws almost all the way out only to press forward again, the greedy drag of her insides tearing a half-sob from his throat.

They move together like they dance, in perfect sync, the slow swell of hips meeting and falling away at an almost dream-like pace in the beginning. Elizabeth begs for lazy kisses, little more than the holding together of their mouths, opened into ovals and spilling sighs and moans out into the silence of the room.

"Elizabeth," Ciel says like a prayer, kneading her breast with one hand, the other pressed up flat against her lower back. She speaks his name as though it might save her too, riding out broken on ragged breaths.

Soon they grow frenzied once more. The push of Ciel's hips turns harsh, sharp, bouncing Elizabeth into the mattress, leaving them panting and bathed in sweat. She clings to him, arms and legs, and whispers feather-light, "I love you's " into his lips, and in no time at all they are both coming undone.

She falls into the blinding whiteness of release moments before Ciel, insides clenching wildly around him. He only just withdraws from her in time to paint the sheets and his cousin's belly with his seed, something close to a roar rumbling up from the deep of his chest as he too is hit with the impossible pleasure of orgasm.

Trembling all over when he rejoins the moment, he falls beside Elizabeth in the sheets to keep from crushing her and pulls her instantly to him. She obliges easily, boneless in the aftermath of their sin, folding into the curve of his body turned on its side.

"Did you kill Charles for being my intended or, for what he did to me?" she mumbles sleepily some time later, idly tracing the muscle of his bicep, head tucked under his chin. She was referring of course to the time, the late Earl had tried to force himself upon her before their wedding. The thought made his chest burn and his fingers clench into fists. Ciel makes a noise like a, "yes," and draws the sheets up to blanket them both, combing the damp hair back from her temple.

Elizabeth nuzzles her cousin's chin before pressing a kiss there, and speaks to the column of his throat. "I will never love another as I love you, cousin."

Ciel urges his cousin to turn over and spoons up behind her, crowding in close. With his face in her hair and his hand draped over her middle where his seed has dried, he decides that, though hellfire awaits him after death, he has lived a hundred lives here tonight in Elizabeth's bed.

His hand searches and finds her hand, their fingers enter twining.

She plays with his fingers, twisting and turning them at her will, but never hurting. Finally, the sheets rustle as she turns to him, her gentle smile replaced with a look of seriousness. Nervousness crawls up from his belly at that look.

"Ciel?"

He sighs and briefly looks away.

"Yes, my love?"

She turns fully to him, holding their hands bound between them. "I would ask you a question."

Turning back, he kisses the tip of her nose. "Then ask and it is yours."

She releases his captive hand to run her fingers through his hair, gently, like the beat of a dove's wing. "I would ask you to marry me."

He smiles and releases a bated breath he didn't realize he was holding. Using his arm as a prop, he leans over her, caging her within his arms as she smiles up at him happily.

"As you wish. My word is my word. We shall run away, change our names perhaps," at this she laughed softly. "We'll live out our lives in some small fishing village by the coast…" He kissed her softly, sinking down beside her to whisper in her ear. "somewhere, where no one will ever guess who we once were…"

She sighed and nestled into the crook of his neck. "That would be lovely."

When she pulled away, she bore a giddy smile, and fore an instant, he saw that spark of innocence that he loved so much. "When?"

He smiled, pulling her in for a long kiss, grinning as he whispered huskily against her lips.

"Right now."

They slip into the night then, two separate beings tied together by so much more than blood, find paradise within hell. At the dawn's bidding, their family would awake to find them gone with the Earl dead, and a considerable amount of the Phantomhive funds gone with them.

.


	23. Weep No More My Lady  Pt 1

**This particular story's been on my mind for some time now and only recently have I decided to put it down. Since I've regained my spark for Kuroshitsuji, this may very well turn into a full blown story. If it goes past three parts, or chapters I can tell you I will take it out of my short stories series and just publish it into it's own little story. But I doubt it will go that far. This first part is a little depressing and I know you're all tired of that but not to fear, that was just to set the story into motion. It will lighten up in later chapters, I promise.**

**I've added a little bit more about mid way through, plus the quote at the beginning. **

**Title:** Weep No More My Lady

**Author:** Kitsune21809

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** Set eight years after the end of Kuroshitsuji II. Elizabeth has led a life of grief and misery since the death of her beloved Ciel. She is labeled 'cursed' by her friends and neighbors when at the age of twenty two, she is childless and twice the widow. When it seems nothing can get any worse, she finds an unexpected visitor in her library. One she thought she would never see again.

* * *

><p><em> Memory is the selection of images. Some elusive, others printed inevitably on the brain. Each image is like a thread, each thread is woven together to make a tapestry of intricate texture. And the tapestry tells a story, and the story is our past…<em>

-Eve's Bayou

1897 – A small graveyard on the outskirts of the English countryside.

'I'll be twenty two years old come November.' Lady Elizabeth Middleford Gray Parker realized as she stared emotionless down at the coffin as it was lowered into the cold, wet earth. 'Twenty-two, childless and now… twice widowed.' She stood alone only a few steps away from the other mourners at her second husband's funeral. It was raining, and the black-clad men and women held black umbrellas over their heads for shelter. They leaned on one another, the women weeping, sharing solace and grief. Only a handful of people had attended the ceremony, among them her parents, brother and her second late husband's sister, Mary. Elizabeth shared her umbrella with no one, nor what little grief she felt. The gusts of wind within the rain blew stinging cold raindrops under the umbrella, down her neck, but she was unaware of them. She felt nothing, numb. She would mourn later, when she could stand the pain. She held it away from her, all pain, all feeling.

'This will be over soon, and then I can go home.'

"…ashes to ashes, dust to dust…"

There were other graves, other markers. Charles Gray, her first husband. And further off, a small, withered headstone that read Ciel Phantomhive. Elizabeth lifted her chin, her teeth clenched to stop their chattering from the cold, to hold back the choking in her throat. All around her, people whispered conspiratorially behind her back.

"Look at her," whispered a black veiled lady to the companion sharing her umbrella. "Hard as nails. I heard that the whole time she was handling funeral arrangements, she didn't even shed a tear. All business, that girl. No heart at all." They thought she couldn't hear them, or they simply didn't care if she heard.

"You know what folks say," came the answering whisper. "She's —" The people nearby shushed them, but they were thinking the same thing. They all were. It was no secret that the entire town believed that Elizabeth Middleford nee' Gray nee' Parker was cursed. It all started when Ciel, her first fiancé, died when she was thirteen.

Nothing unusual, people died every day. However, the young earl did not simply die. He disappeared.

At sixteen, she was married to the older, albeit, noble Charles Gray. A union which would last two years. During which time, she was unable to bear any children. Oh, the fault was not her own to be sure, for a mere two months after their wedding; the late lord met an unfortunate accident, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. And while she played the ever dutiful wife during the time of their marriage, there was of course, the suspicion that Elizabeth had murdered her husband in the years following. The story going around was that she had poisoned him when the day before, he had beaten her with his cane after a heated argument. Lies of course, while she did not love Charles, she certainly wasn't capable of murder. Perhaps the only true rumor going around was that he used to abuse her.

Looking back, she remembered all too well what had happened the night Charles died. He was agitated, more so than usual, but something was off. He seemed frightened of something, constantly looking around as if waiting for something to jump out at him. She boldly gathered the courage to ask what was wrong with him. And he had snapped at her, which grew into a heated argument until he grasped his cane and hit her with it. But only once, for, as she fell to the floor, her cheek stinging in pain he stopped and stared wide eyed at something behind her. Something she couldn't see. Without another word, he had a servant roll his wheelchair out of the room and that was the last she saw of him until that night.

She'd woken that night from a nightmare and had gone to get something to drink. When she returned, there he lie in their bed, cold, with eyes and mouth open in a silent scream.

She gave an involuntary shudder as the image invaded her mind and her brother glanced at her quizzically. The coffin sunk into the bottom of the hole, the mud creeping up around the edges like gripping fingers trying to drag it down further. Across the pit, Undertaker caught her gaze from beneath his bangs, for an instant, she spied the brilliant yellow-green of his eyes and he grinned wickedly at her as he began shoveling dirt back into the hole. The awful sound of earth on wood made her flinch and she nodded at him and turned away. She respected the Undertaker, he was once a good friend of Ciel and consequently herself. But when he disappeared, she grew distant from old acquaintances. She glanced back at the grave, where the top of the coffin was now covered with soil and frowned. Although it seemed lately, she saw more of her old friend than she would have liked.

At twenty, after having been in mourning for societies required two and a half years, she met and married at her father's bidding, Franklin Parker. This marriage, would only last a year and a half. Little over half the time of her first.

She liked Franklin, really she did. He was kind, gentle, never harsh or cruel. But as time wore on, Elizabeth found there was something…off about her husband. He never lay with her more than he was required and when he did it was never… intimate. He always took her from behind, she blushed at the thought, on her hands and knees.

Then her blush melted away and she swallowed thickly to ease her stomach that had turned suddenly ill. He acted very familiar with the servants, particularly the male servants. Bard disliked him, though he never told her why, and it wasn't until a few days before his death that she understood.

She'd wanted to take her prize mustang out for an afternoon ride, and the weather that day was perfect. She had walked in on him, with the stable-boy. Panicked, he tried to explain but in horror, she had already fled back to the house.

Later, he found her practicing her fencing. She was furious and hurt, but not at him, but herself for her foolishness at not seeing it sooner. She turned on him like a wild cobra.

When she asked why he asked for her hand in marriage if his preference was men, he answered with a nonchalant, "I needed a cover up."

It took everything within her not to kill him, shove her epee right through his unguarded heart. Instead she ordered him to leave her home, or she would reveal his scandal to the world.

He left faster than if the devil were at his heels. She decided then and there two things.

That she would file for divorce as quickly as possible.

And

She would never marry again.

The next day, the constable was at her door. Franklin had been pulled from the Thames, having committed suicide early that morning. But somehow, that didn't sit right with her. Why would he kill himself? He had no reason to. But she daren't say a word, else Scotland Yard accuse her of murder.

The awful cry that shattered the solemnity was Mary's. "Franklin…! Frank—liiiinnnn!" And again, "Frank—liiiinnnn!" In was the cry of a soul in torment, filled with loneliness and fear. And within right, Franklin had been the only family Mary had left.

She stumbled towards the deep, muddy pit like a woman newly struck blind, her hands searching frantically like a madwoman. But there was nothing to hold, only the streaming silver streaks of cold rain.

Elizabeth looked at her mother and father, then her brother. 'Why don't they do something? Why don't they stop her? She has to be stopped!'

"Frank—liiiinnnn!"

'Oh for the love of God! She's going to break her neck, and they're all just standing there watching, gaping at her teetering on the edge of the grave.'

"Mary, stop!" she shouted. "Mary!" She threw her umbrella aside and knelt next to the poor woman. Her hands settled on her shoulders trying to pull her back and suddenly Mary whirled around and slapped her, hard.

Undertaker, who had paused in his shoveling, made to walk around the grave and pull the young woman away but stopped when Mary screeched, "This is all your fault!"

Elizabeth's shocked visage melted into a look of cold indifference.

"You're cursed blood killed my brother!" She cried, he eyes wild with madness. "Witch! Damned, forsaken, godless WITCH!"

Elizabeth stood slowly, headless of the surprised gasps of the crowd and whispered coldly. "I did not kill Franklin. It was his own tormented soul that led to his demise."

Though the crowd did not hear what she had said, their curiosity was peeked when Mary screeched loudly, clawing at the ground. "Lies!"

Elizabeth said nothing more and turned to leave. The crowd drew back as if a brush of her skirts might soil them.

"Someone stop her! Someone! She has to pay for what she's done!" Mary's screams followed her out of the graveyard. "She's a witch I tell you! Why else would she be widowed so much in so little time. Witch! Whore of Satan!"

Undertaker's cold hand gripped Mary's shoulder hard. "That is enough young mistress." He spoke eerily.

The rest faded as Elizabeth approached her coach. Her coachman, Elias, ran to her, opening his umbrella to hold above her head. Elizabeth walked to her carriage, ignoring the hand held out to help her inside. Within the plush-upholstered box, she sank into a corner and pulled up the woolen lap robe. She was chilled to the bone, horrified by what had happened. The carriage jolted from side to side, it's high wheels sinking into the deep ruts of clay mud. With a sigh, Elizabeth leaned her head against the carriage wall and watched the scenery pass by, blurred by the heavy rain.

"Help me out of these wet clothes, Paula." Elizabeth ordered her maid. She craned her head around to Maylene standing in the doorway, a solemn expression on her face. "Maylene, tea please." Her face was ghostly pale, it made her green eyes look darker, brighter, more frightening. Maylene nodded, slightly frightened by the look and fair ran from the room to escape the blank stare of her mistress.

Elizabeth stared into the open wardrobe. "Nothing extravagant today; I'm in mourning once again, it seems."

Paula frowned pitifully and laid a hand on her lady's shoulder. "My lady…"

"Please Paula, don't pity me. You know I can't stand it." Elizabeth whispered. Paula sighed and removed her hand. She smiled softly and reaching within the wardrobe, withdrew a simple black evening gown. "I was simply going to ask if you would like this one, Lady Elizabeth."

It was a cheap cover up, they both knew it, but Elizabeth let it slide and for the first time that day, smiled softly. "Yes, thank you."

Elizabeth was glad of the recent change in women's fashion. Gone were the dresses of old that were full of fluff and fabrics and new were the flat, shapely dresses of today. The gown shaped to her form, though not too much as to be considered scandalous. Countless, little black beads decorated the crepe fabric which flowed down until it brushed over the floor like water. The high, opaque neckline wrapped snugly around her throat. She didn't bother with gloves; she wasn't planning on leaving the house again. Black wool, black silk, black cotton, black twill, black velvet. She could go on mourning for the rest of her days, it seemed.

'I should find something darker that black.' She mused. 'Something to wear to mourn for myself.'

"Go, and tell all the servants to put on their black armbands. You too, Paula. This is a house of mourning, and though we are not especially aggrieved, we will still uphold by society's rules." Society's rules. Damn society! She was tired of society's petty rules and regulations on how proper upper-class women should live their lives. She wanted freedom!

Paula nodded and left, a quick glance over her shoulder ensuring that her mistress would be alright.

Elizabeth swayed on her feet. She must have been as tired as this sometime before in her life, but she couldn't remember. She was too tired to remember.

She collapsed into the window seat, her forehead pressing against the cold glass to once again watch the rain wash the land clean.

'I'm tired of funerals, I'm tired of death, I'm tired of my life falling away one piece at a time, and leaving me all alone.'

Her hands slid down the window pane, of a room that was so familiar to her.

She'd taken up residence and ownership of the old Phantomhive manor as well as its previous employees when she'd married Franklin. When Ciel had died, it had been left desolate, with no longer a master to keep it alive and upkept.

She couldn't bear to see it abandoned.

Faintly, she thought she heard knocking downstairs, but brushed it off as nothing more that her parents or brother coming to console her in her grief stricken state. She fought down an unlady-like snort and allowed herself to close her eyes. The sound of the rain lulled her, soothed her frayed nerves if only for a moment.

Elizabeth sighed and twirled her parasol listlessly over her black clad shoulder. The sky was dreary and it was casting a solemn shadow over her mood. She only half glanced at the market windows, glamoured with pretty clothes and jewels that it seemed she would never be able to wear again. She gave a forlorn sigh and with nary a glance at a deep sapphire brocade dress, she turned and continued on.

Beside her, Edward frowned irritably. "Elizabeth, I know it's difficult, but I brought you here to cheer you up…and don't try and say that because you're in mourning you can't be happy." He muttered lowly to her, swinging his walking stick freely at his side.

He glanced at her from beneath his windswept bangs. "I think we both know you hold no remorse for your late husband." He glanced furtively around, assuring himself that they were indeed far from hearing of other people.

Elizabeth smiled ruefully, and said lowly as she stared ahead of her. "But that, my dear brother, is where you're wrong. For I am in mourning, for myself."

Edward said nothing, taking her arm into the crook of his elbow in a small gesture of pity. They continued down the path, the bustle of the market dying down as they reached the outer edge. Now, they were only surrounded by the random child running about or fish monger. Elizabeth's eyes alit on a small stall coming up on her right and she paused. It was small, quaint with heavy curtains and a cracked sign above that read in chipped white paint, 'Madame Clarisse, Fortunes.' Inside, was an old woman, her skin a dark chestnut color but her face was what struck Elizabeth as strange. Her face was painted stark white, in the image of a grinning skull with a red dot betwixt her eyes. She turned to glance at Elizabeth, pulling a small amber pipe from her mouth; something about the look she gave her drew her in. It was a dark, knowing look. Like she knew a secret about Elizabeth that she herself had never known.

Edward pulled gently on her arm ushering her past but Lizzy stood still. "Ed…Ed let's get our fortunes told." She said turning to him with the first smile he'd seen from her in ages.

But still, Edward sneered derisively and went to continue on his way. "Not by her." He said.

Elizabeth pouted pulling on his coat. "Oh, come now Ed, you said you wanted to cheer me up."

"Lizzy, that woman couldn't predict heat in august." He muttered in her ear wary of the old woman's stare. She huffed and turned away from him. "Edward, if I didn't know you better I would say you were afraid to have your fortune told."

He glared at her. "Lizzy, that woman is nothing more than a side show attraction."

Elizabeth smiled and pushed him towards the booth. "Well, then there's nothing for you to be worried about." She watched as Edward sighed and went inside the booth, sitting stiffly across from the solemn fortune teller. With a glare, she plopped a leather bag on the table before him with a stark command.

"Empty it."

Edward raised a brow and took the bag untying the red string that held in closed and poured the contents out before them. He suppressed a shudder as the soft clacking of bones filled the air, the small white pieces making a small pile contrasting with the black tablecloth.

Madame Clarisse reached out and with a bony hand scattered the bones a few times until she leaned forward to examine them intently.

"You are in pain my son…"

Edward glanced up at the old woman's raspy voice whispering to him. "Your grief for your sister gnaws at you like a rat to a corpse."

He nodded and stared intently into her dark eyes.

"There is an end to your problem, though not one you would think…"

She drew back suddenly, as if frightened by the image the bones showed her. She glanced at him and motioned him to lean in. "Stay quiet…and wait." She whispered and Edward's mystified look fell away. "Wait?" He said.

She smiled at him and glanced briefly towards Elizabeth. "Sometimes a soldier falls on his own sword. In three days' time, she will be happy again. Look to the dead."

He glared at her.

"That's it?" He asked annoyed.

She nodded and tapped a glass jar beside her. "Two pence."

Edward sneered and dropped the money in the jar. "Thank you. I feel most enlightened."

The old woman paid no heed to the sarcastic remark and leaned back in her chair with a smile, drawing a long puff of smoke from her pipe. Elizabeth watched as her brother stormed from the hut, taking her arm and urging her forward. "Come on, don't waste your money on that fraud. Elizabeth pulled away and entered the hut. Madame Clarisse watched her like a cat eyes a mouse, dangerously. She exhaled a thick grey cloud that smelled like the tobacco her father smoked. For a moment, Elizabeth felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. She dropped two coins into the jar and sat before the woman who eyed her skeptically.

"Some things are better left unsaid." She said.

Elizabeth leaned towards her, her voice clipped and annoyed. "I paid you, old woman. Now tell my fortune."

She was desperate, desperate to hear anything that might bring joy to her life of misery."

The woman drew on her pipe again and sneered at her. "I don't need no cat bones to tell your fortune Miss Parker." She snapped leaning forward. "You are a _curse!"_

Elizabeth sat back slowly, her lips falling open and her eyes growing wide. "Black widow!" The old woman continued. "Next man who marries you however, will not die, like the others." She grinned ferally. "No, next man, will take your life." She cackled a dry, high pitched laugh and Elizabeth's face melted into a grimace of fury.

Edward looked up in surprise as she screamed. She took the jar of money and threw it, sending it crashing into the wall behind the woman. "You're a horrid, old, hateful _witch!"_

She turned and flew through the crowds of onlookers, heedless of her brother calling after her to stop.

She'd sent Edward away after that little episode in the market. She'd told him she needed time and didn't want to be bothered for a little while. He understood, like always. Elizabeth sipped her tea and placed aside the light novel she'd been reading. She found she couldn't really focus on it, too many thoughts buzzing about in her head.

Looking around, she couldn't help but feel a sense of irony. She had chosen to spend the afternoon in the sunroom, trying to calm her nerves although it was raining. There was no sun, just bleak gray and rain. It had been that way for three days now. She stood and went to stand by the floor length windows that served as the walls of this particular room. Rain washed the surfaces, making them cold and blurry.

She shivered and smoothed down the soft planes of her black vest and dark blue skirt. Her skin felt hot and clammy, almost as if she were sick with a fever. From all the stress of the following weeks she wouldn't be surprised if she had caught some fatal sickness. With a tired sigh, she bent forward and rested her face against the glass. It felt refreshing against her feverish skin.

She turned suddenly as she heard somebody, one of the maids more like, knocking frantically upon the door.

"Yes, what is it?" She called, raising her head from the glass. She noted absently the fog where her breath had been and with two fingers drew a frown and two eyes in the condensation.

Paula fair burst through the door, panting as if she'd ran all the way there. Elizabeth eyed her curiously. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"Paula?"

"My lady…" She interrupted something very unlike her. "You have a visitor. In the library…"

Elizabeth sighed, turning back to the window. Curiously, there was no coach in the courtyard, nor one of the newer 'automobiles'. "Who is it?"

Paula fidgeted in the doorway. "I'm not supposed to say."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth's sharp reply made the mousy woman jump slightly. "Paula, tell me who it is." Her voice booked no argument, but the poor maid was already too frightened to be wary of her master's wrath.

"He said it was supposed to be a surprise."

Elizabeth relaxed and stood. "Ah, my brother…"

"No ma'am."

She frowned and swept passed the stricken maid and down the hall. If not her bother then, who? Her father? Paula had said 'he' so it was not her mother, and she had strictly ordered Edward to let her be for a few days. Her steps were sure and steady as she swept around the corner. In the library, she found…

Nobody.

Not a soul.

Elizabeth sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation. "Paula…" She growled irritably. The silly maid was always jumping at something, some small sound or noise. She was beginning to believe the woman was developing the early stages of insanity. Her hand fell from her face and she crossed her arms, looking around her resolutely. The library once doubled as Ciel's personal office. Once, a dark and dreary room, she'd had it painted a lighter, blue. Covered most of the hardwood floors with extravagant, imported rugs; though she couldn't bear to part with his desk. She remembered many a time when she would visit him, and find him in this exact room, dallying away on work, something no thirteen year old boy should have to do. She stepped smiled fondly at her memories, and allowed her hand to brush through her damp hair. She'd left it down for the day, soon she would have to have Paula braid it for her, so it would not tangle whilst she slept.

She turned to go, but just as she reached for the door handle she heard a voice. A voice she thought she would never hear again. And she froze, her heart skipping wildly in her chest.

"I love what you've done to the place, Lizzy."

She turned quick as lightening, her mouth agape and eyes wide. A moment ago, the big, leather chair behind the desk had been empty. Now, it was occupied by a man. A man with dark hair, a sly grin and deep, sapphire blue eyes.

He was alive! It was impossible! After all these years, all this time passed, and here he was. Simply sitting in the very place he always belonged. Behind him, standing by the window was the ever stoic butler that followed him like a shadow. His smile was grim, as if he didn't want to be there.

She wanted to scream, cry, shout. She was fighting an internal battle with herself on whether to run screaming in fright or embrace him.

Her senses were going into overload. Her lip closed painfully over her lip. She wouldn't scream, she wouldn't cry out, she wouldn't.

"You." The choked, strange sound that came from her lips sounded foreign and unnatural. "You're…"

It all seemed too much suddenly. Her husband's death, Mary's attack, years of sorrow and pain and torture and now….

She felt the world tilt dangerously and in an instant, too fast and unnatural for any human, he was at her side, catching her in his arms as everything went black.


	24. Weep No More My Lady Pt 2

**Part 2. I didn't feel like making it a long drug out romance so I just kinda cut to the chase with this one, sorry. There's a lot of ideas circling around in my head involving this story and I wanted to go ahead and get most of it down so i can start to get along to the really juicy part. More to come, lots more fun stuff that I can't wait to get started on.**

**Title:** Somebody That I Used To Know

**Author:** Kitsune21809

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** Her beloved Ciel has returned. But there is something not quiet right about him. There's a sinister darkness about him that she finds irresistible.

* * *

><p><em>Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.<em>

_Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God,_

_And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,_

_Am not tormented with ten thousand hells_

_In being deprived of everlasting bliss?_

_- Christopher Marlowe, "Doctor Faustus"_

**Part Two**

He was there by her side before her eyes had even fully closed, catching her within his strong grasp as she fell in a dead faint. With nary a sound, Ciel bent to hoist her fully into his arms and it pained him to see her head loll to the side as if she were dead. But she was not dead. He could hear her heart beating within her breast. Slow, rhythmically. With sharp eyes, he could see the artery in her neck pulsate along with the beat. He felt, more than saw Sebastian creep up behind him, his aura a black stain that threatened to overshadow the purity of her own.

"Well, I imagine that could have gone better than planned, if you had not so insisted on frightening the poor girl." He said.

With gentle hands, Ciel tucked her face into his shoulder so that her neck would not be craned at such an odd angle. Once that was done, he turned to glare at his butler.

"She would have been frightened either way. After all, I am supposed to be dead."

"Yes, but the odd thing about dead things is they are supposed to stay dead." Sebastian mused as he glanced around the old office. He didn't approve of the new décor as his master had. It seemed…too flamboyant for his personal tastes. He preferred more subtle tones as opposed to the bright mirage of colors.

"I couldn't bear to see her suffer anymore." Ciel little more than whispered as he gazed down at her pale visage. So soft and light were her features. Even after all she'd been through since his departure, it seemed as though she had barely aged at all. Sebastian sent him a Cheshire grin and Ciel narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, yes. Remnants of your…_human_ heart."

Ciel turned away, to open the door. "Yes, which is more than can be said of you." His grin grew feral. "A true demon has no heart."

As he left, with Elizabeth nestled snuggly in his arms, he didn't miss the dark look that settled over Sebastian's face.

The door clicked shut behind him, and Ciel's eyes flashed crimson. He wanted to avoid the servants for now. Avoid their questions, their tears, their judgment, everything. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was standing in his old room; her room now. The sheets and bed covers pulled down with a single look from him and gently, he laid her into the soft fabric. His hands glided over her skin, causing the cumbersome fabric of her dress to dissolve away, morphing into the soft, delicate cloth of her nightdress. She moaned in her sleep. A sound so soft and gentle it surprised him, his red eyes flickered to her face, assuring himself she was still fast asleep. After he tucked the heavy coverlet snug around her, his fingers traced across her brow and into her golden tresses.

Even after all these years, she was still the same Lizzy. Same hair. Same eyes. But there was also a startling difference about her that he had only begun to notice a few years ago; when he returned from the underworld to check on the people he left behind. Yes, he had returned, having found the world of demons boring and dissatisfying. He was after all, originally human. So why should a human turned demon not crave the aboveworld.

Ciel had returned only a few years after his 'death', to find his beloved cousin newly married to the Queen's personal butler. He immediately disliked the match, regardless of Sebastian's teasing that he was merely jealous. But in reality, they both knew the darkness that was the late Earl. The very thought of the man even touching Elizabeth sickened him. So, Ciel arranged for him to have a little…accident.

Satisfied that the Earl couldn't defile his cousin any longer, Ciel disappeared once again for several months. It wasn't until later, that Ciel learned that his actions had done more harm than good. He came to find that the Earl would often take his frustrations at being confined to a wheelchair out on his wife. Beating her with his crop, until he was satisfied, only to leave her in a heap on the floor. However, Elizabeth never once cried out. She even fought back on occasion, but then the Earl would only have a servant hold her. He couldn't stand it.

He wanted to kill the man. Rip him limb from limb. Beat him to death as he had beat Lizzy. But Sebastian had advised him not to interfere anymore than he already had, or the consequences could be dire.

But he couldn't simply stand by and watch the man torture his beloved cousin either. He paid a visit to the Earl. A phantom image in a dream. He tortured the man as he had tortured Lizzy. He vowed, that if he ever touched her again, the man would lose his life.

Obviously the man was either too foolish to take heed or simply too bold. Regardless, the day he hit Lizzy again was his last. This time, when Lizzy left to fetch herself some water after a nightmare he'd unwillingly sent her as a distraction, Ciel made his move.

The beautiful thing about demons was that they could partially manipulate time within a certain space. It was a trick he valued most when he put an end to the Earl, for Ciel made sure he suffered for a long, long time.

Then there was Parker. Ciel had thought for sure that Lizzy would finally find happiness no matter how much it pained him to have to let her go again. The man seemed almost perfect, but Ciel stuck around anyway to make sure. It wasn't long until Ciel discovered the man's little secret and it disgusted him. Not wholly because the man was gay. No.

But because the man hid it from Lizzy, and still deigned to touch her with his filth. No, this Franklin had to be terminated. But he would not do it behind Lizzy's back like before. He wanted her to know fully who this filth she married was. He wanted her to hate him just as much as he himself did. So, he set it up so that at just the right time, Elizabeth would come upon her husband in his dirty act. And his plan worked out beautifully. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't take pride in Elizabeth when she threatened him, sword pointed with deadly aim at the man's throat.

He ordered Sebastian to send him into the river.

It was at the funeral, when the man's sister, Mary, had struck her, called her those vulgar things, that Ciel had had enough. She had been neglected, abused and now, shunned by society. Elizabeth didn't deserve this. She was too pure, too kind, too perfect to be put through such torment.

He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, make her happy. Even if only for a short while. He would marry her (if she would still have him), age with her if he had to. A blessed trick Sebastian had taught him when he first became a demon. He would take her away from this wretched place. To France, Italy, India, America, and all those places she used to tell his she yearned to go. He would make her the happiest woman alive. He owed it to her.

As he brushed the hair away from her eyes, Ciel realized that he'd come to love his beautiful cousin. She was the only one who truly cared for him before. Even when he was so cold and cruel to her, too occupied with his revenge to truly admire her faithfulness, she was always there. Always seeking to make him happy.

He leaned back, and his hand pulled back as if he'd been burnt. But could he do it? Could he bear to give her all the luxuries of the world, receive all her love…only to lose her in the end?

He didn't have the chance to ponder this matter, because as he leaned over her again, Elizabeth began to stir. She sighed dreamily, her eyes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly as she woke. For a moment, she stared at him confused, as if he shouldn't be there. Then she drew in a breath of awe, her eyes watering as she brought her hands up to his face.

"You're here." She cried softly as she pulled him down, closer so that she could see him fully. "Oh…You're alive. You're really alive." Her arms wrapped around his neck and suddenly she was kissing him. It startled him to the core, for of all things, he had not expected this. But it only lasted a second before he was kissing her in return. He felt moisture on his cheek and he pulled away to find her crying.

"I thought…oh Ciel…you were gone. They said you were dead…but I knew…I knew." He felt so undeserving of the smile she gave him. So pathetic.

"Lizzy…"

"Don't leave me again. I want to be with you forever." Her fingers tangled in his hair as she pressed warm kisses to his cheek, her tears leaving a trail across his skin. He pulled away, suddenly fearful. He couldn't bear to lie to her anymore. His plans before seemed flawed, because they would all be based on lies. She had to know.

"You can't know what you're asking."

She stared at him confused, then pulled him fully over her. "I do."

He pressed his forehead to hers, a frown marring his beautiful face. "Where have you been all this time? Why did you leave me here?" She asked him. "Oh, it doesn't matter. You're here now and that's all that matters." She tried to kiss him again but he pulled away, taking her hands to guide her into a sitting position with him.

"Lizzy," he whispered. "I did die. I'm not longer the Ciel you once knew." She shook her head and drew back, her hands flying to her lips as she gasped. "No! You live! You're here before me, body and flesh!"

He raised his eyes to meet hers and her heart skipped when they contracted, his pupils turning to slits, the color shifting from blue to hellish red. "But not human. I haven't been human for eight years."

She gasped, her fear evident and she drew back away from him. The sight tore at his heart and he fought the will to pull her close again. Her voice trimmered as she shakily asked, "what are you?"

He chanced to take her hand in his. She let him surprisingly. "I sold my soul to take revenge on my parent's deaths. I am a creature of the underworld now… a demon of hell."

She choked on her tears, her face contorting into a pained grimaced and she attacked him. Her fist pounding weakly against his chest. "No! No, you can't be!" Ciel caught her wrists, wanting to console her but she fought him. "No!" She screamed weakly as she slapped him and he pulled her flush against him, seeking to stop her. She cried freely now, gasping as she sobbed into his chest.

"I love you…!" She cried and he felt his heart begin to palpate at her words. She gasped, her hits diminishing as she looked at him. "Oh god forgive me, I do!"

His hands clenched at her waist, as she began to calm. She pulled away from her, her hands coming up to grasp his face in her fingertips. "I want to be what you are! I want to see what you see, love what you love!"

The thought made him shudder. To defile her innocence, codemn her soul to this mosterous form. He couldn't.

"No Lizzy."

"Ciel, please! Take me away with you! Don't leave me again!" No, he couldn't leave her again. After everything, he couldn't bear to.

"Lizzy, you would have to die, and be reborn into my life. Do you really want that?"

"Yes! I have nothing to live for anymore! I have known nothing but suffering since you left."

He stared sadly down at her and she kissed him once more, whispering, "You are my love…and my life always. Please, my love, take me away from all this…death!"

He kissed her hard, pushing her back over his arm as he did. When he drew away, she was breathless and flushed. "Then, marry me Elizabeth." He whispered against her lips. She sighed.

"Marry me, and become my eternal bride." He felt her shiver and she nodded, placing a chaste kiss to his lips. "Yes, oh yes!" He bent her further back over his arm as his lips trailed down to her porcelain neck. "Ciel." She cried, as his tongue darted out to lick the sweet flesh.

"Lizzy."

She shivered at his breathy whisper. He stayed like that for a long moment, simply reveling in the scent of her. But the charade could go on no longer. She was beginning to squirm in his grasp and he released a breathy chuckle. She jerked back, shoving him back in anger. "Ciel you cad! It was all a cruel trick wasn't it? You're horrible!"

He smiled sadly, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. "No, Lizzy. It's all very true."

He pulled her close again and she relaxed in his grip as she lay her head over his collar. "Then why…?"

"I want to tell you my story. Everything." He whispered. "Then, and only then can you decide whether you truly want this."

She said nothing for a moment, then, hesitantly, he felt her nod. He stood to go, pulling away abruptly because he knew if he stayed longer, he wouldn't be able to leave at all. But she grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Ciel…stay with me." She whispered.

He sighed. "Lizzy…"

She raised on her knees, her fingers tangling in his neck tie as she pulled him closer. "I have far too long been without proper male companionship and I would have your love, before anyone's. Will you give me this Ciel? Will you make love to me?"

She half gasped, half laughed as he pushed her backwards, crawling up the length of her until his arms trapped her, holding her wrists on either side of her head. She shivered as his eyes flashed dangerously to that bright crimson color that both scared and thrilled her. He leaned close, his breath fanning against her lips.

Sebastian would have been greatly amused had he heard the words Ciel spoke next.

"As you wish…" He grinned ferally. "My lady."

He felt her stiffen in sudden apprehension, but with a whispered promise that he wouldn't harm her, he leaned forward and pressed his softly parted mouth upon hers. Elizabeth endured his kiss with growing awe, hardly aware that her lips slackened beneath his, allowing his tongue to flick briefly inward.

She bent toward him, yielding him access as she savored the taste of his mouth. His fingers stroked along the

inside of her arm, quickening the rhythm of her heart as his lean knuckles brushed the sheer cloth adhering to her breast. Touching him was like being near a lightning bolt when it plunged into the ground. Lizzy could feel the force sizzling through her and every nerve standing at attention. His kisses lingered warmly upon her skin, evoking feelings that she could not fully explain, an incredibly stirring experience that flooded her heart with tenderness and a strange sense of joy. She felt as if she were melting inside and leaned toward him, brushing her fingers lovingly over his closely cropped hair.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and released it in a long, shuddering sigh, excited by the wantonness she was experiencing. As he drew her up with him into a crouch, Elizabeth could do naught but submit to the flame burning in those darkly translucent orbs. He slipped a hand behind her waist, and her breath nigh halted. Delicious shivers rippled up her spine as his lean fingers lightly strummed the laces at the back of her bodice.

"You're even more beautiful than when I last saw you," Ciel breathed, leaning provocatively near to indulge himself in her heady fragrance. "Or is it that I've forgotten the details in so long a time?"

She flicked a glance upward through silken lashes. "You forget you've changed as well, my love. And I don't mean you're humanity." She murmured silkily, her fingers tracing the hard contours of his chest through the thin silk of his shirt. He brushed his lips against her hair as his hand ascended to a place between her shoulder blades and pressed her forward until her breasts were lightly thrust against his chest. He grinned with an allure that was becoming familiar to her.

Then he caught her hard against him until her breasts ached from the sheer pleasure of his unrelenting embrace. In the next phase of a heartbeat, his parting lips plummeted downward, seizing hers with a wild, frenzied passion. Elizabeth was too surprised by his ferocity and the bold intrusion of his tongue to know how to set aright her spinning world. Her feeble grasp on reality seemed to slip through her fingers as artfully devised tactics were sundered beneath the sweet, brutal onslaught of his kiss. They came apart with a gasp, panting as if they had raced

with abandon across the world.

His mouth traveled downward, pressing warm, sultry kisses along her silken throat. Caught up in the bliss that he evoked, she yielded the ivory column to his fancy, unable to find any strength within her limbs. In her reeling world, he had become the only stable core to which she could cling. His open mouth returned to ensnare her lips in an insatiable quest to win her eager response. He mentally sighed over his success as her slender fingers threaded through the short hair at his nape. Their lips were forged with fiery intensity, and Ciel drank his fill, slanting his open mouth across hers and plumbing the honeyed depths with a flaming brand. A soft, fluttering sigh of pleasure wafted from Elizabeth's lips when his mouth slipped downward again, leaving hers throbbing for want of more. He tasted again the fragrant dew of her silken throat and ventured slowly past the hollow in her throat, on toward softer, more tantalizing

ground.

Elizabeth's head tipped backward as she gave herself over entirely to the bliss of his sultry kisses, but she was hardly prepared as he swept her bodice downward beneath a creamy breast, baring its soft peak to the branding heat of his tongue.

The heat of a blush suffused her, warming her almost as much as the jolting fires that leapt through her senses when he took her nipple into his mouth. No man had ever touched her as Ciel did. Neither of her two husbands before had ever treaded on such intimate ground. Feeling consumed by the moist, fiery torch that swept over the sensitive pinnacle, she gave a strangled moan.

Elizabeth caught her breath at the intensifying jolts of pleasure that shot through her senses as he greedily devoured the silken orb. Until now, she had never imagined that such wildly wanton sensations were possible. She was just as much a stranger to the liquid fire spreading upward from her loins, awakening a strange, burning hunger within her that seemed to set her whole being ablaze with desire. The persuasive titillation of his mouth and tongue blunted her will to resist, and though she relished each blissful stroke that strummed across the gutstrings of her being, she strove desperately to gather the scattered fragments of her wits.

The hungering ache in his loins had now manifested itself into a throbbing density, and he felt driven to assuage his cravings ere the tormenting agony rent him asunder. Elizabeth met his parting lips with her own and, gleaning from her meager experience, slid her tongue provocatively into his mouth. Ciel lifted her up hard against him, allowing her to feel the

thunderous beating of his heart while his hand wandered down to clasp her buttock and press her to him.

"I had no idea how slow time passed until I found myself waiting for you."

Reaching up a hand, Elizabeth swept a finger down the bridge of his lean, aquiline nose, following its noble descent before tracing the lines of laughter at the corners of his mouth and then brushing her fingers caressingly across his lips. "How goes the time now, sir?"

"Much too swiftly, I fear."

Her thumb smoothed a tawny brow before the tips of her fingers stroked down a lean cheek once more. "What must we do to keep it still?"

"Stay with me forever." He whispered.

She smiled softly. "You know I would, if you would but allow it."

He indulged her growing enthrallment with his kisses, allowing his mouth to slowly feed upon the sweet nectar of her response. Even while their lips played, his lean fingers searched out the ties of her gown and plucked the silken cords free. Sweeping the silken cloth from her shoulders, he aided its descent as he slipped the enveloping velvet from her skin. The garment fell unheeded to the bed around her hips, and for a moment he leaned back to relish her beauty with eyes that glinted with hotly smoldering desire. The swelling mounds of her bosom, in the flickering candlelight, glowed with a luster of their own. Evoking a riotous rhythm from her swiftly beating heart, Ciel traced a lone finger downward from her shoulder and then along the edge of her bossom, sketching across the fullness of a breast before moving into the crevice and rising again to the far peak. Once again Elizabeth was confronted with her own dwindling reserve as her nipple grew taut beneath the playful strokes of his thumb. Luxuriating in the delectable pleasure awakening within her, she sat in quiescent stillness until a sultry heat began to quicken in her loins.

Ciel slipped a hand beneath her and lifted her effortlessly across his lap, but it wasn't until Elizabeth drew back for a trembling breath that she realized her gown no longer separated them. Her bare buttocks were resting atop his velvet-clad thighs, making her aware of a bulging hardness pressing snugly against her thigh. Nothing was quite as arousing to his senses as having her bare backside against him, except perhaps having his own equally naked beneath hers.

He kissed her again, holding nothing back as his open mouth ravished hers in frenzied greed, devouring her intoxicating sweetness. When Ciel lifted his head a century later, the flaming blue orbs burned into hers. Once more his hand moved across her bosom, roaming the hills and vales.

Elizabeth had become passionately intrigued with his kisses and leaned forward to caress his softly yielding mouth with timid strokes of her tongue. Much to her dismay, however, he seemed to hold back, meeting her playful kisses with pondered care. Experiencing some confusion at his lack of zeal, she locked her fingers behind his neck and, resting her forearms upon his chest, peered up at him in the meager light.

"Are you bored with my novice kisses?" she questioned in a tiny whisper, confounded by his lagging participation.

Ciel chuckled at such an absurd notion. Shaking his head, he lowered his gaze to the rich fare swelling above the shallow bodice. "I'm entranced by every part of you, Lizzy, though at the moment, I find your bosom especially captivating."

His eyes smoldered like brightly burning coals as they rose to meet hers, and just as Elizabeth had wanted, his open mouth came upon hers with the same urgency that only moments earlier had worn away the outer perimeters of her will. His fingers dipped, allowing him to clasp the fullness of a creamy breast within his hand. Elizabeth caught her breath at the thrill that catapulted through her as he gently fondled her. When he drew back to appease himself with a lingering perusal, she watched him with bated breath, her heart thudding a new, chaotic rhythm.

His arm tightened around the small of her back, arching her spine until her bosom was thrust forward into the luminous glow of the lantern. Elizabeth struggled to draw breath as he lowered his head and devoured the soft mounds with rapacious greed. The fires pulsing within her loins were now flaming upward, growing ever hotter, drawing soft mewling sighs from her as his tongue licked across the soft pink pinnacles. With each flicking stroke, she was being swept closer over the edge. Caught up in the thrilling excitement elicited by his mouth and swirling tongue, Elizabeth gave no notice to his hand leaving her breast and slipping between them, until the shock of his intrusion wrenched a startled gasp from her.

She caught his wrist and struggled to rise, only to find his mouth covering hers again. The fiery heat of his kiss bespoke of his lusting need, but when she was being shaken by jolts of fire that leapt upward with ever-increasing intensity through her being, she couldn't think of anything beyond the need to stop his caresses before she melted in pure bliss.

Ciel tilted his head aslant as he queried, "Are you afraid of me, Lizzy?"

"I didn't think so until tonight." Her breath stilled in wonder as those lean hands cupped her breasts and teased their peaks, and for a moment her eyelids drooped in sultry pleasure as she luxuriated in the delectable sensations he elicited within her, but when his thumbs slipped beneath her to tease her again, she gasped harshly. With a shaky laugh, she met his gaze which tinted red once more. "Now I'm sure I am."

He pushed her harshly down into the mattress and leaned over her like a great beast. His eyes glowed brightly, seemingly lighting up the dark room. "Don't be afraid of me, Lizzy. You know I would never let any harm come to you."

She smiled.

"I know."

With a new zeal flamed into her being, she reached behind him, wrenching his shirt over his head. Yanking his arms free of the garment, Ciel tossed it aside with a muted groan. Of a sudden, Elizabeth knew not where to put her hands, and in an anxious frenzy she rubbed them over the sinews rippling across Ciel's back and shoulders. She could feel the muscles knotting beneath her palms and swept a hand to the back of his corded neck, pressing his head forward until his face was resting within the cleavage between her breasts. With a subtle twisting of her shoulders and upper torso, the soft, ripe melons caressed the manly visage, drawing a muted moan of pleasure from him. Greedily he caught a nipple, nearly devouring the whole of it within his mouth as he suckled her. Elizabeth felt as if she were being drawn inside out and could only stand transfixed at the delectable sensations that pulsed with quickening fervor through her womanly being.

His hand wandered past the small of her back and slid downward past her crumpled gown to clasp a round buttock. Lifting her with him, he rose to his knees and began to drag the garments from her hips. He whisked her free of the restricting clothes, leaving them to fall in a puffy mound upon the floor.

He began ridding himself of his own garments as his eyes feasted upon the perfection that had held his mind solidly entrapped for some time now. Elizabeth allowed her eyes to devour his form, a pert smile tracing her lips and she locked her fingers behind his neck, pulling him down to meet her awaiting kiss.

The rapturous delights intensified rapidly until Elizabeth forgot everything but the need to satisfy the fermenting hunger in the pit of her being. Seeking some relief for that indescribable void which now craved to be sated, she pressed close against him. Ciel readily accommodated her, lifting her up against him until the moist inner haven of her womanly softness was snuggled against the warmth of him. The pulsing heat of his manhood inflamed the greedy fires burning within her, and she sought instinctively to quench them, moving against the forging iron in a quest as old as time itself. She was unprepared for the sizzling pleasure that began to surge upward through her, though she knew that there was more to come than just this teasing enticement, for they had not yet merged together.

"Hurry," she begged in an urgent whisper, snatching Ciel's breath as her fingers closed around the hard shaft.

Elizabeth couldn't think of anything but the bedlam that had been created within her loins. Relinquishing her claim on him, she sank back upon the bed and wriggled across the freshly scented sheet until she reached the pillows near the headboard. Ciel followed and, bracing on a knee beside her, slipped an arm beneath her waist and lifted her across the feather ticking to the middle of the bed. Caressing her cheek and lips with wanton kisses, he lowered his loins between her eagerly parting thighs and reached down a hand to gently part the silken folds. Elizabeth turned her face aside and bit her lip as the unyielding hardness intruded. Her breath was snatched from her as the long saber surged forward, piercing her with a pleasure that made her pitch upward.

Overwhelmed by the waves of effervescent bliss that began washing over her in crescendoing rapture, she began to twist and writhe beneath his persuasive fondling. Arching her hips upward against him in an invitation he could not resist, she was soon leading the stirring hardness to the tender breach. Ciel was shaking nearly as much as she as his hands clasped her buttocks.

He indulged her with tantalizing exchanges of lips and tongues, yet he was now sheathed in her warmth, and a spiraling ecstasy began to goad him. His thrusts were long and sure, stirring her ardor until she began to rise up to meet him. Beneath his kisses, soft mewls were transformed into astonished gasps as she soared ever higher toward that delectable culmination of their union. Ciel was not far behind. His breath rasped harshly in her ear when the first, thrilling fruits of ecstasy began to wash over him.

The heat spiraled higher and higher until she thought she would die from the pleasure of it. Suddenly, he thrust long and hard once more and with a shout, fell atop her even as her own inner walls trembled around him.

Her heart raced within her chest and she could barely breath. She'd never felt anything so powerful in her life. With the last of her strength, she pulled him up, kissing him long and sweet. "I would follow you to the ends of the earth if only to experience such pleasure again, my love." She whispered breathlessly, a smile painting her sweet face. He chuckled and flipped so that she lay atop him.

"We shall see, Lizzy. I dearly hope so, for such pleasures are too sweet to abandon."

It wasn't long until sleep claimed her, and he lay there for some time playing with the soft tresses of her hair. But demons do not require sleep and soon he found himself regretfully pulling away from her warmth, and tucking her within the warm coverlets of her bed.

He found his clothes, swiftly pulling them back on before he left her.

Sebastian was waiting for him in the library. He was standing by one of the shelves, calmly reading a thin novel in the dim moonlight. Ciel took his place behind the desk and leaned his chin in his palm.

"Did you enjoy yourself, young master?" He asked mockingly, looking up from his book. Ciel glared feircly at him and he shut the novel with a snap.

"I took the liberty of catching up with the servants. Did you know Maylene and Bard are married and have a child of their own?" He smirked, replacing the book back in its original spot on the shelf. "A small, three year old boy named Sebastian."

He turned fully to him, his eyes flashing. "I don't know whether to be flattered or simply amused…"

"I want to turn her Sebastian." Ciel finally broke out, his gaze settled on the window. For a long time, he heard nothing and it wasn't until he finally chanced a look at his butler that he found the man shocked into silence.

Crimson eyes burning with vehemence.


	25. Drabbles - LizzyCiel

**Just a few Ciel/Lizzy drabbles. I think there's one Lizzy/Sebastian but it's still mainly Lizzy/Ciel. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Comfort **- When her mom dies, he doesn't say a word. No _it's okay_, no _are you okay_, and definitely no _I'm sorry_. He says nothing, all the while breathing steadily next to her - and she says nothing, all the while trying not to cry. But the weight of his arm over her shoulders is enough to keep the panic away.

**Soft **- For someone so cold and distant, everything about him is soft; his hair, his skin, his lips. She remembers the first time she touched his back - marveling at the feel of his skin stretched tight over muscles, and seething in jealousy that it was so perfect. It wasn't a hard decision to dig her nails in and rake them down his back the first time he touched her intimately.

**Sex **- Angry, sad, frustrated. Full of hate, full of love, full of want, full of need. Biting, snarling, wrestling. Glaring, scowling, fucking. But good. Always, always good.

**Quiet** - Her gentle breathing in the night keeps him sane. He doesn't want to care about her, and most of the time he pretends not to. But having someone next to him - having _her _next to him - makes everything about the dead of night okay. Even when she's not awake, the inky color of her eyelashes against her smooth cheeks is enough to make him breathe steadily, the soft in-and-out as she dreams next to him is enough to relax him for sleep, and the velvety feel of her body burrowing against his is enough make him want to keep her around.

**Sarcasm** - The only time they don't use it is when they fight. Because then they mean every word they say.

**Defeat** - She doesn't like being right about him, and she hates that everyone else is right, too. She'd always known he wasn't any good for her, but now it's right in front of her. He can't be changed. He's a liar and a cheater and a piece of shit. She deserves better. But she wants him.

**Fire** - His touch is like flames licking at her skin. Tendrils flicking their way up her bare back, stinging her ribs, and blazing into every inch of skin he can get his hands on. It burns and aches and it leaves her breathless - it makes her crazy … and she loves every second of it.

**Ice** - Her hands are always cold. Cold and frozen and he has to smack them away when she tries to snuggle closer in her sleep. But when his temper reaches boiling point, when his blood is burning with the idea of vengeance and murder, her freezing hand slipping beneath his shirt and onto his lower back spreads cool calm through him, relaxing him enough to get his head straight. He'll never tell a soul that she has that effect on him, and he'll never tell a soul that all it takes is the feel of her cool skin on his own heated skin to soothe him. He'll especially never tell a soul that he thinks he might like it.

**Hollow** - He's gone again and she's nothing without him. Her mom's gone, her dad's staring at her with dead eyes, and she just feels empty. As mean and cruel and uncaring as he is, he fills her and she needs him.

**Pretty** - Her eyes are pretty, but nothing else. He doesn't think pretty is a strong enough word for the rest of her; luscious, beautiful, drop-dead fucking gorgeous. Those lips, those curves, and those legs all need a word stronger than pretty. But those eyes? They're real and they're honest and they're so damn pretty that he has to scowl at them for fear of getting lost in them.

**Snow** - It was a stupid question, but one she had to ask. She's just surprised he was honest with her. Feeling sick to her stomach, she watches his footprints appear in the snow as he walks away from her.

**Ugly** - He's been in so many fights he's lost count. Fights with his enemies, fights with his friends, fights with strangers in the street. His injuries have included black eyes, split lips, cracked ribs, bruised knuckles, a knife to the side, a shot in the leg and who the fuck knows what else. He's got a strong stomach; the blood, bruises, and breaks have never been a problem before. But when he sees the bruising around her eye, the way she's trying to hide it from him, he really thinks he might throw up. She's still beautiful, but he's never seen something so ugly in his life.

**Beginning** - She's only met him once, but in that hour and thirty-two minutes, he caught her staring at him fourteen times, made her heart skip seven beats, and smirked at her three times. But it was as soon as he sat down that she knew she wanted him. It wasn't his looks, it wasn't his charming attitude, and it wasn't the way his gaze automatically went to her breasts. It was the smirk that followed. The smirk that made her feel like the only girl in the Dingo. The smirk that she desperately wanted to kiss away.

**Fool** – It's been a year since he left with that damn butler again and she frowns, glaring up at him with arms crossed as he walks through the door as casually as he did when he left. It's like nothing's happened. He waltzes in an out of her life like it's his favorite pastime. Well, he's a fool if he thinks she'll put up with it any longer. If he thinks she just wait here like the good little wife that he wants. But then he smiles, and his arms pull her into a searing kiss and she melts just like he knows she will. Elizabeth thinks that maybe she's the fool instead.

**Naked** - When _he_ does it, she feels good and wanted and beautiful. But when Sebastian stares unabashedly at her as she climbs out of his bed, she just feels naked.

**God** - He's never been a believer, but when her hand, warmed by his own skin, pushes his hair away from his face, he thinks it might be possible.

**Young** - When they fight, brutal words are hurled at each other. When they make up, his touch is so desperate he thinks it might hurt her. When things are decent, her feelings are so deep she can hardly breathe. They're both too young for it all.

**Hold** - Her mom's dead. Lying next to her in his bed, he presses a kiss against her smooth shoulder and goes to turn away. She hasn't slept in days, he knows that and he knows she needs to. But she grabs his hand, keeping his arm tight around her waist and asks him, tells him, _begs_ him to please, oh please don't let go.

**Rain** – 'God is in the rain' – her mother used to tell her. But standing there she only see's Ciel. His hair plastered to his face and he looks miserable and she thinks – if god is in the rain, then why does he look so sad? – But as she approaches and he turns to her, blood smearing down his temple from the cut above his eye, and the seal glows in the dark. And she remembers that he doesn't belong to god anymore. But then, he's never belonged to anyone.

**Melody** - Sometimes he's the perfect boyfriend. Sometimes he'll leave his work to be with her; sometimes he'll focus all his attention on her even when his butler is around to hassle him about it; and sometimes, when she's really lucky, he'll dance with her. He'll hold her close, hot hands seeping through the fabric of her dress, slowly swaying them to the music that only they can hear. He's often whispering all kinds of sordid words in her ear, but sometimes … sometimes they just dance.

**Smile** - Sometimes he smirks even when he sleeps. It's kind of creepy, but then, so is watching him sleep. He smirks when he sleeps, when he's pissed off, and when he's happy. He never smiles, but when he gives her _that_ smirk, it's not so bad. No one else gets _that_ smirk, and it's like his very own smile reserved entirely for her.

**Quirks** - This he knows: she hums when she dances, sews, or bathes; she always eats the strawberries off the cake first before she eats the actual cake; she hates lemon in her tea; she only wears scent on her wrists and at the corners of her jaw; she tugs at the curl that falls over her right shoulder when she's nervous; she rarely gets nervous; she's right-handed but can still use her left hand; she hates it when she cries in front of him; she gets a sleepy look in her eyes when she thinks about her mom; she thinks he doesn't know anything about her.

**Lies** - No one gave her that black eye. She wasn't out with anyone else while he was away. She's no more afraid of being alone now than she was then. Nothing happened those months he went missing. He doesn't need her. He can get along just fine without her. They know the truth, and they want to hate each other for pretending it's nothing.

**Attention** - She plays it sweet - a hand on his arm, a small smile to relax him, eyelashes batting like no one's business. Poor boy doesn't know what's hit him, but she's more than pleased with his reaction, and when he blushes at the way she runs her hand down his arm, she knows she'll have no problem getting what she wants.

**Ache** - He sees her as soon as she rounds the corner; soft curls bouncing around her shoulders, pretty eyes sparkling more than he should realize, and wearing a white dress that's far too innocent considering all the things he's done to her. He smirks, knowing she'll forgive him within hours and that they'll be wrestling for control in his bed by the end of the night. But then there's some guy he's never seen before wrapping an arm around her waist, and her smile is far too real for his liking. He wonders if it's all a show for him, but then her gaze slides across the road, landing on him, and her eyes go wide with surprise. There's an unfamiliar ache in his chest that he has to ignore.

**Walking** - Watching him storm down the street, she wondered why she ever thought this would be a good idea. Her date sure is nice, and she could maybe really like him one day, but without even thinking about it, her feet move and she's leaving her date on the side of the road, going after _him_ as he heads down the street. She quickens her pace, wiping sweaty palms on her dress, and calling out his name. She wants to sob in relief when he stops and turns; a knowing smirk on his lips and an angry glare in his eyes. Instead, she kisses him.

**Temptation** – He's damned. He knows it. She knows it. He won't pull her into this life. She's too precious for that. He won't let her love a dead man. But at her hand slides up his leg and her lips brush the edge of his ear he feels the foundation of his resolve begin to crack.

**Tears** - He doesn't know what to do the first time he sees her cry. Through broken sobs she tells how sorry she is and he wants to be angry at her for being such a brat and breaking his ring in the first place. But then she looks up at him with those big green eyes and something tugs at his chest. Relaxing his face, he pulls his sleeves over his thumbs and dries her cheeks.

**Name** - Everyone knows him. Dog of the queen. His name is ugly and to be feared and reviled by all. His name is mentioned in the streets and the stories flow. But standing in that church as he slips his blue ring over her finger, she smiles up at him, her eyes prickling with tears. He thinks his name is beautiful coupled with hers.

**Sun** - Her eyes are closed, arms resting behind her head, and a soft humming noise coming from her mouth. As they lie on a blanket near the stables, he slowly - so slowly he hopes she won't notice - unbuttons her blouse. A small smile spreads over her lips and he knows she knows. Smirking, he opens the lapels and slips his hand beneath one, finding her skin surprisingly warm. Usually it's his own body heat that warms her, but as he presses a kiss between her ribs, he's sure he can smell the sun on her skin.

**Victory** - He sure is giving her an interesting look. If she didn't know any better, she would say it was confusion; instead it's frustration and annoyance and probably a bit of anger. Of course, the frustration and annoyance and anger is caused by the confusion he refuses to let show. Raising an eyebrow, she waits patiently. Finally he scowls and tells her he shouldn't have screwed around, that he won't do it again, that he wants _her_. She doesn't know if she believes more than the last one, and she knows he just saying it to get her into bed, but she smiles at her success anyway.

**Question** – Does he love her? He knows he does but he wishes he could answer her with more than a tight-lipped frown.

**Innocence** - She's never done this before. He thought she was just a tease who was leading him on, but he can see she's anxious. She wants him, but she's so fucking nervous it's almost enough to make him nervous. Instead, he runs a hot hand down her side and does his best to kiss her fear away.

**Kiss** – Their first kiss isn't sweet and caring and romantic sap that she reads about in those novels of hers. Their fighting, arguing about something pointless and he feels something broiling inside him because recently she's begun to look so good and he can't get her out of his head. She's always there. Her smile. Her voice. Taunting him, teasing him, screaming at him. In anger she pushes him and he catches her hands against his chest. Her face is flushed and her hair is a mess but she's never been more beautiful. She opens her mouth to scream at him again and impulsively he kisses her if only to make her shut up.

**Love** - She really wishes she didn't. He sometimes thinks he might.

**Forgotten** - He's not used to the looks she sometimes gives him. The way she's happy to simply hold his hand, sit in silence, be in his presence. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the way she touches him makes him edgy; it's too soft, too pleasant, too nice. Usually he scowls, tells her to stop it. But sometimes he lets it happen because it's a nice reminder.

**Ring** - He isn't serious when he asks if she wants to make it official. He's just being sarcastic and trying to get her into even more of a frenzy - there's something strangely sexy about her when she's pissed off - and partly trying to end this stupid fight. He hasn't fooled around with anyone but her, and even that hasn't gotten past second base yet. So he asks if she wants to make things official, and of course she smirks and says yes, yes she damn well does. Fucking sneaky bitch. He's sure this was her plan all along, but he can work with that. Glaring, he yanks his ring off his finger, grabs her hand, and shoves it on the first finger available. Still smirking, she blows him a kiss and leaves.

**Breathe** - She's shivering, hands shaking, head pounding. The paper has to be wrong, but even as she thinks it, she knows it's not true. He's dead, and she has to remind herself to continue breathing.


	26. Farewell

Okay, so after some thinking, I've finally decided to end my Kuroshitsuji One shots series. I wanted to try and make it to fifty but for the past year, my love for the series has dwindled seriously. Not because it's taken a turn for the worse, no. I have just found other interests that have replaced it.

My friend introduced the series to me in my last year of high school and I remember when I first started reading it that I though must have been seriously fucked up to read such a strange manga. But for the life of me I could not leave it alone. I just kept coming back to it over and over again until eventually it just had me hooked. Now it will forever hold a special place in my heart as one of the best manga series I have ever read but like with everyone it's time to move on.

There are several one shot's that had potential to be great fics, but I never had and probably never will have with any series, the patience or the time to continue on and write and finish a long fic. Wish I could but...

There are One shots in here that remain unfinished however, and for that I am sorry. I wish I could have continued them but the spark has just gone out of me.

I will say this however for all the wonderful fans of this series and of my work...

If any of you wish to build on any of my stories in Tales at Midnight, or use them as backgrounds for your own work then you have my permission as well as my blessing. I only ask you one thing, give credit to any of my work you use.

Never let this shipping die.

It's strange, it's beautiful, it what drives our creativity.

And remember always remember this...

Remember why you write. It is important. You write because you love character. You love _these_ characters. You write because you love dialogue and narrative, in that order, and you love it even more when either reveals character without being expository. You write because you can't not. You write because you are compelled to. It is not just a mental need. It is a _physical compulsion_ for you. If you cannot touch a pen to paper, if your fingers cannot flutter across a keyboard, you suffer. You lose it. You can't. Not. Write.

You do not write for others, though it can be great motivation and inspiration. Reactionary writing, too—you can feel a great compulsion to write when you feel you are responding to something. But you cannot let either of those things become the only reason you write. You cannot let every piece become a gift. You cannot make every piece a part of an argument or debate or conversation. You cannot let that happen, because if that happens, then you are no longer writing for yourself, and _this is important_.

Remember why you write. You write because the need to do so is overwhelming. You write because it makes you happy. You write because it keeps you healthy and sane. You write because you have to. You write because you can't not. You write because out of all the things you need to do in this world, you need to do something for yourself. And writing should be for yourself. Your words, your blood, your sweat, your tears, YOU!

But most of all THANK YOU!

All of you guys. Those of you who have stayed with me, commented, reviewed, drawn fanart and asked questions, those of you who became friends, with whom I exchanged e-mails and messages about writing and fandom and sometimes boring old _real life itself_, you guys especially, more than anybody. You guys. You ladies. You wonderful, glorious people, you.

Thank you.

With all my hear and soul.

Good luck and may all your writing be great.


End file.
